Springfield grants $3.5M for 19 preservation projects, rejects 1 housing request

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SPRINGFIELD — The city will help replace leaking roofs on five historic buildings, fix the Buckingham Fountain that has been dry for years and make Marshall Roy playground handicap accessible, but will not assist an affordable housing project with units earmarked for people with mental illness.
The City Council approved spending $3.5 million in Community Preservation Act funding to be divided among 19 projects to help preserve historic churches, build affordable housing, and boost open space and recreation.
This year, the act raised more than $2.5 million from a surcharge of 1.5% that has been added to taxpayers' bills since voters adopted the law in 2016. In addition, the state is expected to match the contributions with nearly $400,000, and there were additional funds from interest and money allocated but not used from last year from projects that were not done or came in under budget, said Robert McCarroll, chairman of the Community Preservation Committee.
'It was a very difficult year for the committee,' McCarroll said, about the body that vets the projects and recommends them to the City Council. 'Although we had $3.5 million to recommend to you, we had 35 projects — the most we have ever had — asking for more than $8 million.'
About half the grants recommended were less than the amount requested, but those organizations can return next year for additional funds, McCarroll said.
The City Council passed 19 of the recommendations without a concern but narrowly rejected a proposal to continue to support the efforts to convert the historic Kavanaugh building on State Street into 35 affordable housing units, some of which will be leased to clients of the Department of Mental Health.
'The location is just about on the front lawn of (the High School of) Commerce, and I don't think it is an appropriate location,' said City Councilor Sean Curran, who has opposed the project in the past.
In addition, he argued that the city granted developer Donald Mitchell, owner of Renaissance Development LLC, $2.8 million in federal pandemic money, and the Community Preservation Committee awarded him $210,000 for the project in past years.
'I think that is a significant contribution to this project and to come back tonight for an additional $300,000 of additional taxpayer's dollars, I think is a bridge too far,' Curran said.
City Councilor Malo Brown agreed, saying he does not want to put more money into a project that has stalled and added that the building has been sitting vacant with no activity for some time.
Mitchell said there were some design flaws in the $10 million project that caused him to part ways with the original architect. The company now has a new designer on board and hopes to begin construction in the fall.
To speed up the time when people can move in, his company has now decided to do the work in two phases, so 25 apartments will be built and occupied first, and the remaining 10 will be completed later.
In responding to Curran's concerns, Mitchell said he did talk to officials at the High School of Commerce when proposing the project, and the educators did not object to it.
Other councilors said they did support the project, especially since Springfield faces a shortage of affordable housing and lacks apartments for people with mental health illnesses.
'I think it addresses many needs (for) the city of Springfield, and I'm not in favor of having another empty building on State Street,' City Councilor Kateri Walsh said. 'It will help a lot of people.'
There were no objections to the remaining projects.
City Councilor Jose Delgado called the proposals a good mix of improvements that will affect 10 different neighborhoods. He said he was happy that several other projects will help the city address the affordable housing crisis.
Among the grants is one for $250,000 that will be given to Habitat for Humanity to help build a home for a low- or moderate-income first-time homebuyer on Hancock Street. The committee also continued its annual contributions to a program that helps first-time homeowners with down payment assistance and another that helps residents improve historic homes.
'We had many applications this year for (a) leaky roof and, of course, the worst thing for a historic building is water penetration,' McCarroll said.
The committee recommended assisting the new owners of the historic Paramount Theater and Massasoit House with their $1.2 million project to replace the roof with a $300,000 grant.
It also awarded the Ecumenical Church on Eastern Avenue $151,000 and Daniel's New Bethel Church $94,000 each for roof replacement.
The historic Ames House on Maple Street, owned by Commonwealth Academy, also will receive a grant to replace the roof.
'This is one of the still-damaged historic homes on Maple Street from the 2011 tornado. We are recommending $155,000 … to rebuild the roof to the appearance it had prior to the tornado.'
Read the original article on MassLive.