Gerena Magnet School
Republican file photo
SPRINGFIELD — The School Committee approved a request for proposal for the “disposition and redevelopment” of the German Gerena Community School.
Peter Garvey, the director of Capital Asset Construction for Springfield, told the School Committee’s Building and Maintenance subcommittee on June 18 that the city hopes to find someone who will either offer fair market value to buy the school for redevelopment, or a nearby owner willing to swap their land for the five acres where the Gerena School currently resides.
The reason why the city is embarking on this route, according to Garvey, is because of a land shortage on the North End.
“We’re looking for five acres down in North End for the new Gerena School,” Garvey said. “We’ve driven around, we’ve done the drone, we’ve done everything I think that was with me one day trying to find 5 acres. It’s not like glaringly obvious to us.”
The school, built in 1972, is 136,000 square feet and sits at 200 Birnie Ave. According to previous Reminder Publishing reporting, flooding due to a water main break prompted a renovation of the building in the mid-1990s.
Last fall, the City Council advanced the new school project forward by authorizing a $2.5 million bond for a feasibility study of the school in conjunction with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. At the time, councilors said the project has been a “top priority” and years in the making.
“I wish it would have happened a lot sooner, but this is definitely a much-needed building, particularly for kids who live in probably the poorest neighborhood in the state,” said City Councilor Jose Delgado at the time.
During the School Committee meeting on June 18, Garvey emphasized the uniqueness of such an RFP proposal. He said the priority is to keep the school in the city’s North End, but find a place for the new school as soon as possible.
“It’s a unique way to generate some excitement about getting some property to build a new school,” he said of the RFP.
Now that the RFP has been approved by the full committee, City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti said site tours will occur in July, proposals are due in early August, and the city hopes to award a contract in mid-August.
“That’s an aggressive timeline,” Buoniconti said. “We don’t know if we’re going to receive any viable proposals the first time around, but we need to from a legal perspective … we at least need to try this before we take some alternative routes.”
Mayor Domenic Sarno, the chair of the School Committee, confirmed that the city’s goal is to keep the school in reach of where it currently is.
“Springfield’s sort of land poor, but I gave my word to the community, we want to keep that school in the North End,” Sarno said. “We have limited resources out, so we’re trying to be as creative as ever. “And I’m very thankful to the Mass School Building Authority.”
The city still hopes to open a new Gerena School in 2030.
