EASTHAMPTON — A building committee has designated a city-owned, wooded parcel of land on Park Street near Mountain View School as its No. 1 desired spot for a new senior center.
The Senior Center Building Committee was formed in March last year under former Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, tasked to find a home for the new senior center and manage the project. At the committee’s Feb. 9 meeting, it was unanimously voted to designate 226 Park St. as the desired site.
“We looked at Highland Street, Holyoke Street, Daley Field, all of which have different issues that would make it difficult to use those sites,” Dan Rist, who chairs the Senior Center Building Committee, said at the Feb. 9 meeting. “So my own feeling is stick with Park Street because it has advantages.”
While it was not officially voted as the guaranteed location, Director of Planning and Community Development Allyson Manuel said the decision is significant.
“It’s significant that they have settled on a location because at this point, unless there is a real deal breaker that is determined during the feasibility process, this is the site,” she said in an interview with the Gazette.
Residents may have seen the 64-acre parcel on Park Street, which consists of a field in front with a large wooded area behind, on land that sits between the Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow apartments and a solar field.
The city is now putting together a request for proposal (RFP) to put out a bid for architects to conduct a feasibility study of the site, to determine if the location is adequate and what the limits of the site would be.
“There were certain criteria, including that we would prefer to use city-owned land, so of all the city-owned properties, this one stood out,” said Council on Aging Director Cynthia Tarail about the Park Street site. “It’s not too far from downtown or the typical routes that our vans take to bring people downtown.”
Tarail said the city wants to hire an architect who has had prior experience conducting feasibility studies for and designing senior centers. An important factor, she said, is to make sure there is enough room for parking, something the current center lacks.
In an interview with the Gazette, Rist said the city has been exploring many city-owned and private sites as potential locations for years now. Other locations considered have disadvantages that would make it more expensive and difficult to develop there, whether it be recreational requirements, public safety issues or traffic concerns.
Well before the committee began its work, in November 2023, a separate group called the Ad Hoc Senior Center Building Committee was formed to envision the best possibilities for a new senior center. The ad hoc committee produced a 33-page report, that was largely used to inform the decision on Park Street.
The report lists some of the pros of the Park Street site, those being that it is on a major road, next to Treehouse and Mountain View School, and it is undeveloped, city-owned land. Rist also noted that there would be minimal traffic impacts since the rotary up the road manages traffic well.
“I just want to say it’s time for the seniors to get something,” Rist said in an interview. “They’ve been living in the building that simply cannot handle the programming they’re doing.”
Rist said the current Senior Center at 19 Union St. has many downsides and the building was never meant to be a senior center, previously being used as a post office.
He and other committee members have visited several newer area senior centers as models such as South Hadley, Hadley, Ludlow and more. When visiting one, Rist said, the director told him that they have many visitors that come from Easthampton.
Committee members discussed one disadvantage of Park Street, which is that the White Brook runs through the middle of the site, creating a small riverfront area that needs to be protected along with bordering vegetated wetland (BVW) areas. This would not affect the proposed building site, however, which is planned for a 7-acre parcel at the front of the site, steering clear of the brook and wetlands.
“The general consensus is that Park Street is going to be the best site,” Mayor Salem Derby said. “It’s not perfect, but we don’t have a perfect site necessarily.”
Derby said that moving forward, he will not be as hands-on in the design process. But he does want to explore a “campus” style project that would maximize the benefit of a large project like this, aiming to address multiple necessities of the city, including a new Parks and Recreation Department and public recreation facility.
“Looking at a large project like this, being able to maximize the impact with the cost, doing projects that are not necessarily connected but in conjunction, could save the city money long-term,” Derby said.
Derby said a new Parks and Recreation Department could be explored on the site, which is a “desperately needed” since the department is currently working in a trailer. During his campaign, Derby discussed the potential to create a senior center that offers generational connection between younger and older generations.
When looking at a new senior center, Tarail said, depending on what the feasibility study reveals, there are many improvements that can be made. Some ides she floated for the new center included increased outdoor access, a new kitchen and gym, and other additions that expand access.
Moving forward
City Procurement Officer Michael Owens estimates that an RFP for a feasibility study would cost $100,000. He said the request would ask architects to look at “the whole gambit” of site considerations, including utility availability and capacity, wetlands, soil and traffic impacts, and more.
Before that happens, an appropriation request for the RFP must be made to the City Council. At the Feb. 9 meeting, Rist said he would like to get that appropriation to the City Council as soon as possible, and would aim to get it on the council’s agenda by the end of March.
Derby said before he starts making appropriation requests to the City Council, he wants to get a clearer picture of the upcoming budget, anticipating that he will have most budget meetings with department heads done by the beginning of March.
“I need to make sure I cross my T’s and dot my I’s,” Derby said at the meeting, about creating the budget. “I’m not going to get ahead of myself on my first budget.”
Tarail said the two committees have made sure to include feedback from the public throughout this process and welcome any questions from residents. The Senior Center Building Committee’s next meeting is planned for March 30.