Longmeadow’s Community House.
Reminder Publishing file photo
LONGMEADOW — With the Longmeadow future building use task force now appointed, work will soon begin to find a use for Town Hall, Old Town Hall and Community House. Voted in by the Select Board were Paul Dunkerley, Sara Gregg, Ryan McCollum, Earl Godfrey, Zach Kushner, Leonard Shaker and David Lipke.
The process goes back to December 2025, when the task force was being developed with the purpose of evaluating, envisioning and recommending the future use of the buildings. Town Manager Lyn Simmons said the task force will hopefully begin work at the end of February and the Select Board initially said that work will ideally wrap up between December 2026 and February 2027.
The goal is to ensure each building will be used in a manner that best serves the community, reflects long-term municipal priorities and preserves or enhances the town’s cultural, historical and economic vitality.
“That will guide a lot of the work in the coming years,” Simmons said. “Those three buildings are either fully vacant or very underutilized … they’ll fully dive in and decide what the next life is for those three parcels.”
Interviews for the task force began in the Select Board meeting on Jan. 20. Dunkerley, who received five votes from the Select Board, said what captured his attention was the emotion each building carries in the town.
“My kids participated in activities in the Community House, we obviously all go to vote there. It’s kind of an iconic building, as is the Town Hall,” Dunkerley said. “I think it’s really important that we honor the history of those buildings while at the same time, take a look at the unmet needs in town, or perhaps the anticipated future needs, and find a way to utilize those buildings and spaces in a way that compliments what we’re already doing and what we’re trying to do.”
Dunkerley added that it’s important the task force has an opportunity to hear from residents as well, and to make a very strong and informed recommendation to the Select Board in terms of what can be done.
Kushner said he applied because it is an opportunity to be involved in the community and make a difference. He has a background in construction and development and could understand the project from a builder and developer’s perspective.
“What’s interesting about these projects is, these buildings, we’re trying to evaluate them to see what their next potential use could be,” Kushner said. “As we all know with the changing building codes and trying to modernize and find potential new uses for these properties, there’s a massive component of feasibility and site logistics, ADA accessibility. I think some of the value of that, I could provide.”
Gregg said the opportunity came across while she was working on a mixed-use redevelopment of the Nathan Hale School, an elementary school in Enfield.
“I love research, I love doing the supportive work that it takes to get projects going,” Gregg said. “On a personal level, I love old buildings. When I was 19, my now husband and I drove through Longmeadow to get to Bright Nights and I was like ‘I want to live there.’ We drove past Center School and the Community House and I find them so beautiful, but also, I want future generations to find them beautiful and useful as well.”
Gregg said she has two small children and is thinking of their uses for it, along with what would make them love Longmeadow the way she does.
Godfrey said he has a deep and abiding interest in Longmeadow that extends well beyond 70 years. He’s been involved in aspects of Longmeadow community living, from election work to shelter committee.
He said what he does is get out into Longmeadow and speak to people, such as the military and veteran community. He said he was urged to apply.
“I’m not a builder, I’m not an estimator, I could probably go out and sell something to somebody if I put my mind to it,” Godfrey said. “The ones you want to sell on this and the ones you want to satisfy are the people who don’t do all of these other things, and I think that’s where I come in. I can help people understand some of the difficult decisions that are gonna have to be made about this … I know what the interests are out there that span the entire community, and I have an interest in protecting that as well.”
Shaker said he’s been in town for 36 years and is a representative of the Longmeadow Historical Society. He said him and other board members have a vested interest in preserving and maintaining as much of Longmeadow history as possible.
“We’re very familiar with the buildings,” Shaker said. “We’ve done research on the buildings, we’ve written on the buildings, it’s something we’re interested in from a historic perspective. I can’t bring a lot of financial expertise, but we’re willing to do research on the options and can provide a historic perspective and maintenance of Longmeadow history, which we feel is extremely important.”
McCollum said this lines up well with his experience as a project manager for Springfield in the department of planning and economic development. He also had the opportunity to be director for the executive office of house and economic development under former Gov. Deval Patrick.
“Currently, as a consultant, one of the buckets I have where I help folks is, I help developers and different municipalities across the state navigate boards, like you all, and neighborhoods to have their projects come to fruition,” McCollum said.
Lipke said he’s been very engaged in the town for about twelve years but has never volunteered for a committee. When he saw this opportunity, he said it seemed like the time was right to get involved.
“I want to make sure that we respect what makes Longmeadow so special, a place that I want to continue to raise my kids and see them grow up, and to make it a place where, you know, maybe one day they can return to,” Lipke said. “Part of that is making prudent financial decisions for the town that respect who we are, who we have been and who we aspire to be.”
