WEST SPRINGFIELD — West Springfield is on to the next step for its John Ashley School and Fausey Elementary School consolidation project, and Mayor William Reichelt said it’s still a couple years and votes away until the town gets shovels in the ground but that it is well on the way.
The project combines John Ashley and Fausey into one building, and Reichelt told Reminder Publishing that the “heavy lifting” to get approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority is complete. The project still requires a design approval vote by the School Committee and a funding approval vote by the Town Council.
Reichelt announced in a July 28 social media post that the MSBA approved the town’s selection of Skanska as owner’s project manager, managing the project from start to finish by overseeing the timeline and coordinating with designers and builders.
He also included an estimated timeline in the post, showcasing phases of forming the project team, conducting a feasibility study, schematic design and funding the project.
Designer selection is estimated for November and schematic design is estimated to start in September 2027. MSBA approval of the proposed project and the issuing of the project scope and budget agreement is estimated for April 2028 and district approval and votes are estimated for May 2028.
Reichelt said the project’s goal spans back nearly 30 years after kindergarteners were moved to John Ashley in the hopes they’d eventually be able to move back into either Fausey, Tatham Elementary School or Memorial Elementary School.
“With increasing enrollment over time, it was never feasible,” Reichelt said. “Over the past 10 years or so that I’ve been mayor and a member of the School Committee … we knew we had to do another school, we just didn’t know where. [Coburn Elementary School] fit really well behind the existing school, and we wanted to see what would be next. Do we consolidate schools, close schools, what is our next step? That kind of led us, as Coburn opened, the concluded that we had to close [Mittineague Elementary School], but with MSBA paying almost 80% of the costs, we needed another school.”
The project is proposed for the same lot as the current Fausey school in order to consolidate and close John Ashley. Reichelt said the School Committee is funding the initial design process and will try to hire an architect this fall.
“From there, they’ll work on feasibility, have public outreach, we’ll tour different schools and then they’ll get a conceptual design,” Reichelt said. “We’ll make some presentations to the council and the public, the Planning and Construction Committee and the School Committee and then from there, move into the final design and funding.”
He said the project would modernize facilities and make the building “physically, a nicer place to be in.”
“Things are getting warmer, the season gets longer, Fausey doesn’t have air conditioning,” Reichelt said. “It’ll give nicer facilities, upgraded classrooms, make the building itself safer and overall give teachers, staff and students a better learning experience, and also be able to bring the kindergarteners back in. You’ll have pre-K through five all in one place … it’s a great project that has been a long time in the making.”
Reichelt said costs fluctuate, but he estimates a project cost of around $75 million with the MSBA covering a bulk of the price. He said the town will pay “about a quarter of that.”
