Adams Selectmen Reconsidering Middle School Reuse Plan
Youth Center Vice President Edmund St. John IV presented plans the nonprofit has for the former Middle School but selectmen said they are awaiting cost estimates for repairs before they can agree to a lease. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The cost to repair the former Memorial Middle School for reuse has led the Selectmen to reconsider the plan to lease it to the Youth Center and saucemaker Ooma Tesoro's.
The town had entered negotiations to lease space in the school for those two entities while it develops a long-term plan. However, engineers have looked at the building and say the town will need to invest in the roof, heating system and some of the building envelop just for the short-term usage.
"The intersection we are at is whether it is cost effective to put someone in there," said Town Administrator Jonathan Butler on Wednesday, when the board heard a presentation from the Youth Center asking to finalize the lease. "The building is in worse condition that we thought."
The Selectmen are now awaiting cost estimates to decide the course of action but say they can't support having taxpayers pick up the tab for a costly repair. They cited an array of projects the town is already embarking on and the debt exclusion for the Hoosac Valley Middle and High School which will hit the tax bills next year.
"I would have had hard time justifying taxing people out of their houses to do [the repairs]," Selectman Richard Blanchard said.
However, it leaves the board with the dilemma of the Youth Center. The town has looked for developers interested in taking the building but when that failed, the Youth Center "stepped up," according to Butler, and came in with a viable plan. The town entered lease negotiations with the nonprofit last year.
Meanwhile, the town is already preparing to sell the former Community Center on East Street, where the Youth Center currently operates. The center has grown so much recently that its need a new location in order to continue growing.
"The time has come for us to move. We are expanding," Youth Center Vice President Edmund St. John IV said.
The Youth Center's membership has grown from about 30 to nearly 200 in just three years and the center has plans to expand programming to become a "full-fledged community center." Center officials are modeling their future after organizations like the YMCA or the Dalton Community Recreation Center.
They are planning adult education, sports, after-school programs, aerobics, cooking, partnering with other organizations such as Berkshire Theatre Group and Shakespeare and Company for theater and an array of other new initiatives to go with what they already do.
St. John IV outlined the plans for the Middle School as well as detailed all of the program they offer already, a number of activies some of the Selectmen didn't even know they offered.
But none of their expansion plans will be possible if they do not find the right facility. The school already has a gymnasium and auditorium to help with that. Additionally, the center would pay for the utilities and make the building "revenue neutral" so the town would not be stuck paying to preserve it while developing a long-term plan.
"We intend to fully pay for how we want to see the inside of the facility to look," St. John IV said.
While the Selectmen "fully support" the Youth Center and encourage its expansion, members all said the decision will come down to the cost.
"I 100 percent support the Youth Center and their activities," Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said, but adding that he, too, has concerns with the cost of reuse of the building..
Chairman John Duval said if the middle school does not work out, the town will work with the center to find another suitable spot.
"We have to continue to invest in our youth," Duval said, citing a lack of things to do for young people. "We've got to find a viable location."
Butler said he hopes to have cost estimates on the school soon for the Selectmen to make a decision.
Tags: Adams Memorial Middle School, school building, youth center,
