Land shortage prompts Springfield to propose property swap for new school

Yahoo

23-06-2025

SPRINGFIELD — Faced with a shortage of available land in the North End, the city is taking a unique approach to find property for a new German Gerena Community School.
The city is searching for a five-acre parcel, preferably located within a mile of the existing school on Birnie Avenue. Touring the neighborhood and using a drone has netted no results so far, said Peter Garvey, director of capital asset construction for the city.
So, the city will seek landowners in the dense neighborhood interested in swapping their land for the five acres where Gerena School currently stands. It will also consider bids for someone interested in purchasing the school for fair market value and reusing or redeveloping the old school.
'It is a unique way to generate some excitement … to get some property to build a new school,' Garvey said.
The current Gerena School building, built in the 1970s, suffers from leaks, flooding and mold.
The land swap will be the preferable bid because it will solve two problems: giving the city a place for the new school and reusing the property where the school sits, said School Committee Member Joesiah Gonzalez.
With multiple medical facilities located near Gerena School, Gonzalez said he is hoping the request for proposals will catch the eye of one of those businesses.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority agreed to begin the process that will give the city 80% of the money to replace the school. The city's school department is in the process of completing a feasibility study on the plan, which is being funded with a $2.5 million bond approved by the City Council in 2024.
'Is there really five acres in the North End of undeveloped land?' asked Peter Murphy, a School Committee member. 'Outside eminent domain, I don't see how we get five acres.'
Legally, the best way to begin the search for land is to request proposals for a land swap. If there are no viable responses, then the city can consider alternative routes, said City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti.
The proposal will have an aggressive timeline, with the requests for proposals going out around July 3, visits to the school planned for mid-July and proposals due in early August. If all goes well, the award would be made in mid-August, he said.
Any agreement would not release the Gerena property until construction of the new school is completed, which is now to be in 2030, Buoniconti said.
'Springfield is land poor, and I gave my word to the community, we want to keep that school in the North End. We have limited resources, so we are trying to be as creative as ever,' said Mayor Domenic Sarno, School Committee chairman.
The quicker a property can be found, the easier it will be to meet the plan of opening a new school in 2030, Garvey said.
'If we have to go out and find land, that is just moving that goal post back, and that's not what we want,' Garvey said. 'Every time that goal post is moved back, then it costs more.'
The property up for swap is the five acres with the school on it. Additional land including two adjacent parcels with tunnels that go under Interstate 91 and the railroad tracks and the sports complex near Chestnut Middle School are not being considered in the swap proposal, Garvey said.
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