HADLEY — Opened in 1894 and closed as a town elementary school just over a century later, the future of the historic Russell School building, vacant for several years, remains uncertain.
With no plans for reuse of the building at 131 Russell St., and with what former building commissioner Timothy Neyhart calls “astronomical pricing” for necessary renovations, the Select Board on Wednesday agreed to form a new committee to figure out how to proceed.
Select Board Chairman David J. Fill II said the idea is to have a committee appointed whose members give advice and direction to officials about the Russell School.
“The longer we wait the more expensive it’s getting, and the fewer options we have,” Fill said.
Neyhart, a member of the Municipal Buildings Committee, said it would be wise to have a meeting involving town departments and others to figure out what to do with the building.
In early 2021, two local developers responded to a town advertisement and submitted letters of interest that sought to convert the building into apartments, with the town retaining ownership and entering into a long-term lease for the 10,613-square-foot building on nearly 2 acres. Neither of those proposals moved forward.
Neyhart said the west portico, the part of the building closest to Hopkins Academy, is extremely unsafe and its condition continues to deteriorate. The last estimate he gave for renovation of the building was around $21 million.
“We don’t have $21 million,” Select Board member Joyce Chunglo said.
But the actual cost of fixing the building could be higher, as reinforcing the building to prevent a collapse from seismic activity could easily double Neyhart’s projections, and also don’t take into account rising construction costs and inflation.
“Price tags are going through the roof right now,” Neyhart said.
While some residents have told Chunglo the building should be demolished and rebuilt with a Russell School replica, Chunglo said the town would face the same issues of the new building potentially sinking due to the unstable soils.
Select Board member John Waskiewicz said he believes there should be money available from the federal government or state grants to rehabilitate the building with minimum impact on town funds.
