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Date: 7/5/2022
CHICOPEE – The Chicopee School Department moved their offices to a leased property on 134 Dulong Circle in August 2021 after deeming the Helen O’Connell Administration Offices on 180 Broadway aged and unsafe. One year into their five-year lease, the School Department is considering the purchase of a permanent administration home at the former MassMutual Learning and Conference Center on Memorial Drive.
The Helen O’Connell Administration Offices were classified a surplus property by the School Department in March, with ownership of the property transferring to the city as officials weigh whether to sell or re-purpose the space.
The School Committee discussed the potential purchase during their June 15 meeting. Interim Superintendent Alvin Morton explained that School Department continues conversations with the city as they search for a permanent administration space.
“One of the things when we got [the property] on Dulong Circle, we were ordained to find a permanent location,” said Morton. After submitting the former MassMutual space as potential selection, Morton shared that Mayor John Vieau and his legal team began reviewing the legality of a potential purchase.
Currently, the School Department pays $280,200 annually for leasing the Dulong Circle property. Morton said the school administration staff began searching for a long-term base of operations soon after moving into the leased space.
“At the end of the five-year lease, we don’t know where we are going to go…One of the first things when we got Dulong, the next question is what’s next for a permanent location. We have been looking, and one of those places is the MassMutual building at this point and time,” said Morton.
Ward 4 School Committee member Sandra Peret expressed that the MassMutual space “seems large” for the school administration’s needs. Morton explained that the current proposal would split the building between administration offices and community services.
“MassMutual is about 75,000 square feet…There is one side that would be the school side, and we were also looking at the community-lean on the other side by bringing outside agencies that would have wraparound services within the community,” said Morton.
Some of the community-centric ideas Morton proposed were the involvement of organizations such as River Valley Counseling Center, the Department of Children and Families and local adult special education programs. He also revealed that the full-size kitchen located inside the space could be used for senior lunches.
Comparatively, the 21,000 square-foot Dulong location presents some spacing restraints for the school administration. Morton said the move could be “a year or a year and a half away” due to the school administration possessing the necessary funds for an acquisition. A majority of the spending would come from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds dispensed to the district from the coronavirus pandemic.
If the purchase and move occurs before the end of the Dulong lease, the School Department would utilize the building for additional Career Technical Education space and a new home for the public access station ChicopeeTV.
The interim superintendent also shared that the Helen O’Connell building completed its extensive cleaning process.
“We cleaned out the building, so [we’re] now seeing what can be done,” said Morton. The next priority for the dormant building is improving the ventilation system, which was previously deemed one of the central reasons the space became uninhabitable.