Opinion: Square One Project Demonstrates It Takes a Village

More than 14 years after a tornado destroyed its former home, Square One opened its new home last week at a ribbon cutting that looked a whole lot like a Frank Capra movie.

Indeed, the ceremony became a celebration of the people and the institutions that it took to get this done — from the federal, state, and local governments to the Davis Foundation and the Red Sox Foundation, to the Balise family, which ultimately contributed more than $3 million toward the cause.

Amid the many comments from the speakers about going back to square one and rising from the ashes, there was a palpable sense of pride in all that had been overcome for Square One to be able to turn the key at its new, $18 million facility and remain in Springfield’s South End, where it all started 142 years ago as Springfield Day Nursery.

It took 14 years because Square One first had to get back on its feet, which became more challenging when another of its facilities was leveled in a natural gas explosion in 2012. And then it had to decide to what to do and where to rebuild. And then it had to survive a pandemic. And then it had to find a site — and that site turned out to be its old site. And then it had to raise the money, clear the site, and design and build a new facility.

None of that was easy, but just as Square One was committed to staying in the South End and building new, the community it has served for nearly a century and a half became committed to help get the job done.

There were many contributors to this cause — from the federal government and its New Markets Tax Credits program to the city chipping in $1 million in ARPA money; from the foundations to the Balise family, which first donated $1 million and then bought a building on Main Street for more than $2 million and donated it to Square One to create a campus.

And there were many times at the ribbon cutting when it was said this ‘wouldn’t have happened without…’ any of the above.

And while that’s accurate, the truth is it wouldn’t have happened without all of them coming together as they did.

This was a 14-year journey, one with more than enough bumps in the road to traverse. But like all Frank Capra movies, this one also had a happy ending, one the community can share in.