Elementary School Reuse 

Introduction

The City of Easthampton is in the process of preparing for the reuse of three elementary school properties.  In January 2020, the Easthampton Downtown Strategic Plan was completed and provides strategies to enhance economic development opportunities in the Downtown and strengthen the Cottage Street and Union Street corridor as a commercial center and a creative heart of the community. The Plan establishes coordinated vision and action items for the Downtown including redevelopment opportunities, shared parking, and pedestrian enhancements.  

Elementary School Reuse Committee

The downtown planning process identified next steps to form an elementary school reuse committee (Steering Committee) and to prepare and seek Requests for Proposals from developers.  The general role of the steering committee will be to: 

• Participate in scheduled meetings (approximately 1 per month for approximately 1.5 years) to review and provide feedback on the RFP to be developed by the Project Team.

• Share their insight on the opportunities and challenges on pertinent topics based on your knowledge of the City, Downtown and the different constituencies and stakeholders you represent.

• Act as a liaison between different committee, boards or organization you represent and share the feedback from these forums with the Project Team.

• Prepare a written recommendation to the City Council and Mayor of Easthampton with regard to the nature and extent of the RFP seeking the most community benefit for the City of Easthampton.

The current membership for the committee is:

• Joe McCoy - Chair

• Patrick Brough - Council on Aging

• Chris Korzcak - Economic Development and Industrial Committee (EDIC)

• Brad Riley - Affordable Fair Housing Partnership

• Tracey Harris - Historical Commission

• Pamela Means - Resident

• Lauren Clark - Resident

School re-use RFP strategy

The Downtown Plan establishes a community-based vision for the future reuse of Center, Pepin and Maple Street elementary schools.  Chapter 5 of the Downtown Plan includes a baseline evaluation of each building, summarizes community feedback on desired uses, school reuse scenarios, and establishes building reuse criteria.  

The next phase of the project is to examine available information about the schools, consider realistic funding sources and development options, create RFP criteria, and to prepare an RFP that will result in the highest likelihood for redevelopment of the buildings and/or school sites.  The RFP will be sent to City Council, then to the Mayor before it is released.  The committee will use existing and pending data and research to and provide all the information for public review, including for review by City Council, residents, and potential developers.  

The timeline is subject to change but currently seeks to release an RFP in late summer 2022 and intends to coincide with the schools becoming vacant as of July 2022. 

Project information

1. Memo on Disposition Process, dated September 15, 2021
2. “Draft” white paper on precedent (information about other similar RFP’s)
3. One Stop For Growth Grant application (City is seeking $100,000 for due diligence)(Submitted July 14, 2021; status is pending)
4. Maple Elementary School Preliminary Design Program, December 16, 2016 (NOTE: this is the entire document used to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.  It is a very large file) 
5. Maple Elementary School Preliminary Design Program (excerpt of existing conditions evaluations for Maple, Center & Pepin
6. Draft Criteria for Discussion, December 7, 2021
7. Preliminary timeline presentation, February 8, 2022
8. City Council packet for MassDevelopment due diligence, January 13, 2022
9. Initial first draft of RFP, March 7, 2022
10. Valley CDC Report "affordable housing fit test", March 4, 2022
11. Community Theater letter of interest, April 5, 2022
12. Second draft of RFP, April 7, 2022
13. April 7, 2022 letter to School Committee (surplus vote)
14. Third draft of RFP, May 6, 2022
15. Emily Williston Library vote letter, May 10, 2022
16. School Department operational cost summary, May 12, 2022
17. Draft FAQ, May 23, 2022
18. MassDevelopment Conceptual Design Plans and cost estimate (Center/Pepin)
19. MassDevelopment Conceptual Design Plans and cost estimate (Maple)
20. Existing condition survey (Center/Pepin)
21. Utility Assessment (Center/Pepin)
22. Existing condition survey (Maple)
23. Utility Assessment (Maple)
24. Appraisal (Center), Crowley Associates, May 24, 2022
25. Appraisal, (Pepin), Crowley Associates, May 24, 2022
26. Appraisal (Maple), Crowley Associates, May 24, 2022
27. CPA committee letter of support, May 19, 2022
28. City Council Transmittal letter - Draft RFP & Disposition process, May 26, 2022 (packet includes):
    1. Cover letter
    2. Draft RFP
    3. FAQ
    4. Draft resolution & votes
29. City Council Property Subcommittee minutes, July 18, 2022 (site visit)
30. City Council Property Subcommittee, August 17, 2022 (video)(minutes)
31. City Council Property Subcommittee, August 31, 2022 (minutes)
32. City Council Property Subcommittee, September 8, 2022 (video)
33. City Council Property Subcommittee, September 14, 2022 (video)
34. City Council public hearing on disposition and release of RFP, September 21, 2022 (video)
35. Mayor LaChapelle Affordable Housing Press Release & Proclamation, August 22, 2022
36. City Council Packet - Final Draft RFP, September 21, 2022
37. DHCD Final 40R Letter of Approval, September 28, 2022