Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 9/26/2023
SPRINGFIELD — The former Friendly’s restaurant at 65 Sumner Ave. will be renovated to serve as a preschool and virtual academy.
Springfield Public Schools Chief Communications Officer Azell Cavaan shared that the building is being rehabilitated to have three preschool classrooms as part of the Sumner Avenue Elementary School. The hope is for this project to be completed by the end of November or early December, and for students to move in at that time.
Cavaan said that two of the classrooms will be relocated from the “Snyder’s Market,” the annex on the other side of the elementary school that currently houses the Sumner Avenue Preschool, and the third will be a new classroom.
The Snyder’s Market building is being updated to house Springfield Virtual Academy, and will include administrative offices, testing and storage. Cavaan said this will be relocated around January 2024.
“The new campus, including all [three] buildings, will be redesigned for improved parking, traffic flow and will include new playgrounds,” Cavaan said. She added that the grounds are currently under design and the implementation is to be determined.
Ward 6 City Councilor Victor Davila shared that the original plan was for a part of the parking lot to be used as a drop off and pick up location, and parking for staff at the elementary school, which is currently happening.
Davila said he is “pretty happy” to see the parking lot being utilized this way, as it improves students’ overall safety.
Background
The City Council approved the $1.125 million acquisition of the property at 65 Sumner Ave. during its Oct. 24 meeting. The property was previously owned by private investors, who had acquired it for $600,000 in 2020 after years of dormancy.
In September 2022, city leadership discussed the acquisition of the property and potential reutilization of the space and additional parking for the elementary school.
During a Sept. 26, 2022, joint Finance and Public Safety City Council Subcommittee meeting, Superintendent Daniel Warwick explained that the Sumner Avenue Elementary School, built in the 1920s, received an expansion in the 1990s that was funded by the state’s School Board Authority. Warwick said the new addition did not feature the appropriate parking space needed to accommodate the renovations.
“They never bought the appropriate property to accommodate the parking, the arrival and dismissal that a school would need … We’ve been running the school for the last 20 to 25 years without the space to properly execute arrival, dismissal and parking for the staff,” said Warwick.
At the time, the Sumner Avenue Elementary School had 68 parking spaces and three handicap parking spaces for their staff of over 100 employees. To address the additional need, Friendly’s made an agreement with the school district that allowed staff to utilize some back area parking spaces during school hours.
“Without that, we couldn’t have run the school,” said Warwick.
The property owner maintained a $40,000 a year lease agreement for the back parking area with the school district. Springfield Public Schools Operations Officer Patrick Roach shared that the parking area addressed the school’s needs by offering an additional 30 to 40 spaces.
As for the building, City Council President Jesse Lederman brought up the rumored idea that the city could utilize the space for offices for the school district’s virtual school, however, Chief Administrative and Financial Officer TJ Plante said the city was not “married” to any ideas for future reuse at that time.