HADLEY — A nearly $1.24 million request to stabilize the former Russell School and prevent continued deterioration of the 1894 building is among four projects seeking Community Preservation Act money this spring.
The CPA Committee is reviewing proposals, which also includes a Historical Commission concept to tell the town’s history through signs, an audio driving tour and a walking tour of West Street, and a Hadley Historical Society idea for preservation of needlepoint samplers.
The committee next meets Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., when Committee Chairwoman Mary Thayer said members are expected to finalize recommendations and a funding plan that would be presented to annual Town Meeting in May.
By far the largest request comes from the Russell School Committee, with support from the Municipal Building Committee.
Russell School Committee member Dan Regish said the vacant building at the corner of Route 9 and Middle Street, across from Town Hall, will need “some serious money” before more elaborate plans for its future can be undertaken.
“We really need to pay this building a little better respect,” Regish said.
The money would go toward fixes to the roof, foundation, retaining walls and brick. The work would draw upon recommendations from a Drummey Rosane Anderson Inc. report in 2019 and an Olde Mohawk Masonry & Historic Restoration Inc. report in 2013.
Before supporting such spending, CPA Committee member Andy Klepacki said residents might want to know the overall cost to restore the building.
Committee member Andy Morris Friedman noted that money has previously been appropriated by the town for restoration projects on the Russell School, but never used.
Meanwhile, the Historical Commission’s ask for $15,000 would pay for four signs about town history to be placed in Hockanum, North Hadley and town center, and on the West Street common, a new audio driving tour and an update of the walking tour of West Street.
Another request comes from the Hadley Historical Society, which is asking for $18,000 for a $19,000 project.
Society member Alan Weinberg said the money would help preserve 10 needlepoint samplers from the 18th and 19th centuries made by women and girls from Hadley or with family connections to town.
