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Date: 2/2/2022
CHICOPEE – After an extensive dormancy period, Chicopee is gearing up to revitalize the former Uniroyal factory space on 154 Grove St. following a 12-year cleanup process.
Cleanup Process
Constructed in the 1870s, the property remained a significant manufacturing space for over a century. The Grove Street location is most synonymous with Uniroyal’s use of the area from 1891 to 1981, with the company utilizing the site to produce bicycles, automobile and truck tires before shuttering operations, according to the city’s website. Since its closing, parts of the building continued to be leased, but most of the site’s 33 buildings remained vacant.
Planning Director Lee Pouliot, who served in the Planning Department throughout the 12-year process, detailed the extensive effort behind the space’s cleanup. He revealed that a key component in reinventing the location came with the initial construction of a redevelopment vision plan. “It really set the expectation for what assessment and cleaning needed to be addressed,” said Pouliot in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
While the space’s dormancy ensured an active cleanup process, Pouliot shared that the skeleton of the building is still being preserved in some capacity. The reinvented space will include four of the preexisting buildings on the lot, including the former Uniroyal administration building, two production buildings and a smaller space utilized as a company store.
“We’ve essentially gutted them and removed all hazardous waste from the basement all the way to the top floors. They are a structural skeleton of interior walls at this point,” said Pouliot, who revealed that roofing repairs and weatherization additions are among the most recent additions. The planning director shared that the city envisions the revitalized final product as a mixed-use community space flexible to different ideas.
The completed cleanup is expected to conclude this spring, with financial contributions from the city and Michelin North America Inc., which owned the Uniroyal property.
RFP Submissions
Once spring begins, Mayor John Vieau shared that the city will begin to accept Request for Proposal (RFP) submissions. Following in the footsteps of former mayors Michael Bissonnette and Richard Kos’ work on the project, Vieau expressed excitement in completing the cleanup after witnessing progress during his 18 years on the City Council.
“It’s surreal to take a property worth negative of millions in value and clean it up,” said Vieau in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
The mayor envisions limitless potential for the Grove Street area, citing its proximity to Chicopee Falls and the approximately 20 acres available for different developments. “There’s a lot of potential [in the Uniroyal site], we want to unleash that potential,” said Vieau.
Pouliot said he sees similar promise in what the refurbished space can bring. He recalled the property’s glory days when the area became a business center that united the local community. “This was like a village center. Redeveloping Uniroyal and getting people back there will have a domino effect…we talk about convenience and ensuring basic needs are in walking distance of residential development. That’s all very possible [for the neighborhood],” said Pouliot.
While the city awaits RFP submissions, Vieau speculates that part of the property could be utilized for market rate apartments or a medical office. The use of the space may not be defined, but the mayor stressed that the cleanup process has unlocked a vital cog for Chicopee.
“The sky is the limit,” said Vieau. The city will analyze RFP submissions for six to eight months after the receiving applications from the private business sector.