AMHERST — The town of Amherst’s Community Preservation Act Committee will look at 11 new CPA funding proposals totaling close to $2.2 million for fiscal year 2026 at their upcoming meetings.
The proposals, which are from a wide array of entities across town, encompass projects in the realm of affordable housing, historic preservation and open space/recreation.
According to the Amherst website, the highest ask for CPA funding comes from the town’s Public Works Department, which is seeking $750,000 to help fund “serious repair or replacement” of the War Memorial Pool bathhouse on Matoon Street.
The application, submitted by Assistant Superintendent of Public Works Amy Rusiecki, an initial feasibility study of the enhanced War Memorial area, including a preliminary design of the bathhouse was funded as a FY24 CPA project and is currently underway. She added that the Athletic Facilities Strategic Plan, completed in 2019, recommended improvements to fully activate the underutilized space within the enhanced War Memorial area.
“This FY26 CPA proposal would be combined with the FY25 CPA allocation, to be used as matching funds towards grants to allow the town to take the next step towards replacement,” Rusiecki said in the application. “Phase 2 includes a complete design, bid-ready documents and construction of a new War Memorial Bathhouse.”
She noted in the application that the pool and project area, which also includes bathhouse, basketball court, playground and walkways, are in need of a serious makeover.
“It is envisioned that the project area will be redesigned with new walkways, sitting areas, amenities for numerous age groups and significant features such as the bathhouse, playground and potential splash pad,” Rusiecki said. “An important element of the design would be to incorporate an updated space to celebrate the pool and bathhouse as the ‘War Memorial,’ and to have space that could accommodate community events.”
The town will apply for state grants to help cover the cost of the project and the CPA money would be the “local match.”
The other big CPA proposal comes from the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, which is seeking $500,000 in CPA funds for an unspecified project.
“This flexibility is critical to our role as a funder/catalyst and is reflected in our FY 2026 request,” wrote Greg Richane, the town’s housing coordinator. “The Trust has demonstrated that there are many possible ways to utilize CPA funds strategically for generating the building of affordable housing, and we will continue to build on our track record as a nimble and opportunistic actor that meets present and future needs as they present themselves.”
Though there was no project specified, the trust emphasized its history of supporting a number of different housing projects throughout the years, and how receiving CPA funds has been crucial to that work.
“In the past 12 months, we have supported affordable home ownership through investments in two separate efforts led by private Partners Amherst Community Land Trust and Valley CDC,” Richane said. “We’ve also supported the Amherst-based Craig’s Doors in their low threshold housing program, which in turn serves highly vulnerable residents with housing and services. All of these investments were timely and catalytic in filling final funding gaps unable to be resourced elsewhere, on a rapid turnaround.”
The trust included some of the projects they expect to work on in the coming year, including one where they expect to receive a request for funding from Way Finders to support upcoming development of sites on South East Street and Belchertown Road, where 78 apartments are expected to be built.
“There is a diverse range of possible avenues for Trust impact in FY 2026, and all of these would be strengthened with a $500,000 investment by the CPA,” Richane wrote. “This amount would help provide concrete support to affordable homes already in an active pipeline and empower the Trust to credibly pursue new partnerships with funding in hand.”
Other big funding proposals for CPA funding include a request from The Jewish Community of Amherst for the restoration of stained glass windows at its historic synagogue, and $150,000 for improvements and enhancements of trails across town.
Readers can look at the rest of the proposals by visiting the Amherst website: https://www.amherstma.gov/3820/CPA-Proposals-FY2026.
