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Date: 7/6/2021
EASTHAMPTON – The Center for Human Development (CHD) hopes its presence in downtown Easthampton will be a vehicle for increased accessibility for needed mental health services in Hampshire County.
The CHD recently purchased the 17,900-square-foot commercial building on 55-69 Union St., which was known for many decades in downtown Easthampton as Manchester Hardware, for $1.4 million.
The building was sold by NAI Plotkin, a commercial real estate brokerage firm that serves Western Massachusetts and the Northern Connecticut region. Jim Reardon and Dave Wolos of NAI Plotkin brokered the deal.
According to Ben Craft, the vice president of CHD, Western Mass. is in need of more access to mental health services and supports for adults, children and families.
“The impact of the pandemic has only exacerbated that need,” said Craft. With that in mind, CHD hopes to utilize the building as a place for dedicated outpatient mental health counseling services for adults, children and elders. Included in this new site plan would be outpatient counseling services for substance use disorders.
According to Craft, the new site plan would be a relocation and expansion of existing CHD clinical services that have been based in Easthampton for over a decade. As of right now, there is a CHD clinic on 179 Northampton St. in Easthampton.
Aside from counseling services, the CHD also wants to use the site as a resource hub for connections to other CHD and community resources for people and families, including housing programs and job placement programs.
“Purchase of the building is just the first step in the process in which we consider and determine the best possible uses for the site and advance those plans,” said Craft, who added that there is a possibility the site could be a co-location of primary medical care with mental health resources. “We look forward to engaging with various community stakeholders appropriately as the process unfolds.”
Manchester Hardware officially closed in the fall of 2020 after the owner, Carol Perman, decided to retire. The store was first founded in 1895 by George L. Manchester. Perman’s father, George Schwartz, then bought the business and ran it until he died in 1989. Perman became the sole owner of the business in 2016. After 125 years in business, Perman closed the store after five years of trying to retire.
According to their website, CHD offers a broad range of high-quality, community-oriented human services. Its headquarters is located in Springfield on 332 Birnie Ave.
Reminder Publishing reached out to the Easthampton Planning Department for more information on the municipal processes involved in establishing the CHD’s downtown center, but did not receive a response as of press time.