CHICOPEE — At its Nov. 13 meeting, the Barry School Building Commission voted to recommend the Szetela Early Childhood Center site as the preferred location for the new Anna E. Barry Elementary School.
The City Council hosted a special meeting on Nov. 17 to hear updates from the commission about the construction project.
Chicopee has been working in partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to build or renovate a new elementary school to replace the Anna E. Barry Elementary School and be partially reimbursed for the project.
Caolo and Bieniek Architects Principal and Project Architect Bert Gardner provided an overview of the information presented to the commission over the past several weeks.
The recommended option is a new two-story school behind the existing school building on the Szetela site.
The total building area is 96,461 gross square feet for a program area of 65,348 net square feet. The proposal also includes a traffic calming solution, which will create a new access point through 562 Granby Road.
A traffic impact analysis study was also conducted in September along Granby Road for the Szetela Site.
The process yielded preliminary concepts to help reduce traffic and keep pedestrian safety a priority. Those concepts included a roundabout, with an order of magnitude cost estimate between $2.5 million and $3 million, or a traffic signal, which is estimated to cost between $1.5 million and $2 million.
The estimated cost of the entire project is still being processed and should be available before November ends. The costs will be incorporated into the preferred schematic report. Once the report is updated, the costs will be posted on the school’s project website.
Based on the early estimates, Gardner said the project will cost approximately $102 million, but that is not set in stone yet. The costs include the demolition of the existing Barry School. The target move-in date is fall 2029.
The preliminary design program yielded two different sites and 12 design alternatives.
An assessment of the locations was conducted to determine if the sites would accommodate a new school. The site assessment found wetland soils in the proposed site, which will impact the potential siting of a new school.
Garrity Grove, the initial preferred location, is protected by the parkland designation under Article 97 of Massachusetts law, which establishes a right to clean environment and conservation of natural resources.
These challenges made use of the site difficult and questionable. As a result of the findings, the commission asked the project manager and designer to investigate other neighborhood locations.
The plans were eventually narrowed down to four proposals before the commission recommended the new school on the Szetela site.
Since September, the OPM and designer have been working with the district on the preferred solution study to pick one site that they could submit to MSBA.
That submission is due on Dec. 18. After the submission, the city will host a facilities assessment meeting with MSBA in January 2026 to examine why the preferred schematic design is the right solution for Chicopee.
Anna E. Barry School Building Commission Chairperson Carissa Lisee said at the Nov. 17 meeting that there were many contributing factors taken into consideration in the commission’s decision, such as cost, the impact of Article 97, traffic, land takings and possible displacement of families.
Colliers Project Leaders, the project manager, and the Building Commission also put together surveys, hosted public input meetings for residents to express their concerns and conducted a traffic study on Granby Road.
“This was a very difficult decision for the commission,” Lisee said. “Many of the members are volunteers and residents and taxpayers in this city, so we understand the impact this decision has on the community as well as the affected neighborhood. I think I can speak for the entire commission when I say that we had the best interest of the students, as well as the best interest of the city at heart when we made our decision last Thursday.”
