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Date: 12/30/2015
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Massachusetts School Building Association (MSBA) will be recommended for funding to replace Coburn School, Mayor Ed Sullivan told Reminder Publications. Executive Director of the MSBA Jack McCarthy informed Sullivan on Dec. 27, and an official announcement will follow on Jan. 27.
The funding provided by the state will be used to tear down and rebuild Coburn Elementary School, as well as expand it to make room for the students of Cowing Elementary School.
Cowing, because it is in an historical district, will not be torn down but made available for purchase. Though the necessary renovations are so extensive, Sullivan said any party interested in taking it over would be making a large investment.
Sullivan said West Springfield came close to getting Coburn School on the MSBA’s recommended list, but the state came back this year to ensure that the proper financing was in place.
“We have $17 million coming off our debt service over the next five years, so there’s plenty of room,” Sullivan said.
The news comes, Sullivan said, just after it was discovered that some of the wooden roof supports in the school are cracked. Reinforcement work is being done to ensure there is no safety risk for when the students return from winter break, but it also confirms that a new school is the right move for the town.
“I do want to make it perfectly clear there is no danger to students once they return to school on Jan. 4, 2016,”?Sullivan said.?“The emergency repairs have solidified the roof.”
In addition to the cracks in support beams, Sullivan said the infrastructure of Coburn School has been problematic, putting it on the list for funding from the state for more than a decade.
The toilets, he said, are connected to the storm drains, so if it rains heavily, there is backflow. Teachers are conducting classes in storage closets. The building is just outdated, he said.
“It’s really not suitable for education purposes at this point because of what’s available for space, what’s available for classroom space … If we can combine the kids from Cowing and Coburn into one school, it will be much more efficient,” Sullivan said. “You know, it will be a state of the art school that should be around for another five or six generations.”
A combined school would hold about 625 students, Sullivan said, and to repair both schools would cost the town millions. According to a Master Plan Update Feasibility Study for Coburn School conducted in 2014, it would cost about $4.8 million to “bring the facility up to minimum standards,”?Sullivan said.
A new school might be costly, but at least it would not be a temporary fix for a much larger problem, he said.
Though funding amounts have yet to be determined, when the state helped to finance the new high school, only 20 percent of the total cost fell to West Springfield to cover. The price of a new elementary school will be less than the high school, but Sullivan is hoping for a similar percentage to be foot by the state.
“If someone is going to build you a $200,000 house and you only have to pay $40,000, you’d do it every day of the week,” Sullivan said. “That’s what we’re doing except for bigger numbers.”
Although things will not get rolling regarding requests for quotes and designs until after the Jan. 27 announcement, Sullivan said the town is “feeling pretty good about it.” To his knowledge, the School Board has not turned down a recommendation.
Sullivan anticipates that it will be about five years from the start of the project until the books are finally closed, but getting this recommendation is a great step forward for West Springfield Public Schools.
“It’s tremendous. When people move in and out of communities or look to move to communities, the five top factors are availability of a labor force, schools, quality of life, location and taxes always comes in around fifth. The educational system and the availability of a labor force are usually the top two so this is really going to be a great coup for West Springfield if we can get this built because it’s going to enhance our community that much more,” Sullivan said. “It’s going to attract families and businesses to West Springfield. It’s part of being an economic driver, quite frankly. It’s going to help, first and foremost, it will give us better tools to educate our kids, better facilities, better workspace. Then after that the domino effect is that it’s an economic driver to attract businesses and residents and quality of life issues. It’s going to be a great addition to West Springfield.“