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Plans revealed for the new Brookings School

Date: 8/13/2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD — School officials revealed plans and the location for a new Elias Brookings Museum Magnet School at a meeting on Aug. 8 at the J. C. Williams Center in the Maple High Six Corners neighborhood.

The June 1, 2011 tornado heavily damaged the kindergarten through fifth grade school located on Hancock Street. Students have been attending classes in a temporary building constructed next to the school.

Attending the meeting were School Superintendent Daniel Warwick, City Councilor Melvin Edwards, School Committee members Christopher Collins, Denise Hurst and Barbara Gresham besides neighborhood residents and members of the Maple High Six Corners Neighborhood Council.

Rita Coppola-Wallace, the capital asset construction director for the city, explained the new school would be constructed on a site that now is the location of the temporary school's parking lot on Walnut Street. On Aug. 20, the City Council will vote on the taking through eminent domain of that property — owned by Springfield College — as well as three residential structures on Melrose Street and an auto repair business on Marshall Street.

She described them as "friendly takings," and said the owners of the homes and the auto business are pleased with the relocation process. Springfield College "has been great to work with," Coppola-Wallace added.

She explained the city must be in control of the properties before the Massachusetts School Building Authority votes to approve the initial plans at its meeting on Oct. 3.

Carl Franceschi, representing the new school architects, Drummey Rosane Anderson Inc., explained it made more sense to build a new Brookings, instead of repairing the existing building.

He added, "A historic building [such as the original school] is a whole other issue."

The new school would be built with the slope of the property in mind, Franceschi said. One side of the building will be one story, while the other side will be three stories.

The classrooms for the youngest children and for areas such as the gym and lunch area will be on the first floor, with the classrooms for the older children on the upper floors, he explained.

There will be a parking lot and playground area on either side of the building, which Franceschi described as a "very tight site." He added the school has been designed to take advantage of the limited location.

The entrance of the school will be on Walnut Street with an area for deliveries on Melrose Street, he said.

There will also be a courtyard on the roof of the gym, Franceschi said. The façade of the building will keep to the design theme of the historic Armory "Water Shops" complex, which will be next to the school.

Parent Olivia Walter mentioned concerns about the traffic on Walnut Street, which Warwick said would be addressed with additional traffic lights and cooperation with the police.

Members of the neighborhood council passed a flyer around asking the Springfield School Department and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to consider making Brookings a "community school."

According to the Coalition for Community Schools, the educational definition of a community school "is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities. Community schools offer a curriculum that emphasizes real-world learning and community problem-solving. Schools become centers of the community and are open to everyone — all day, every day, evenings and weekends."