Page 8 - BusinessWest June 17, 2024

East Longmeadow
at a Glance
Year Incorporated: 1894
Population: 16,430
Area: 13.0 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $18.54
Commercial Tax Rate: $18.54
Median Household Income: $62,680
Median Family Income: $70,571
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: Lenox; Cartamundi; CareOne at Redstone; East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
East Longmeadow Is Building Momentum
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
Gordon Smith became superintendent of schools in East Longmeadow in 2010.
Not long after, the ‘journey,’ as he called it, to build
a replacement for the high school built in 1960 began. It’s a been a long, difficult, often frustrating road, said
Smith, who summed up the early years of the long fight and approval process by saying, “we would get close, but we were never invited in.”
Finally, the last of myriad hurdles — a vote of town residents to approve the $180 million school project and another $19 million for the accompanying natatorium — was cleared last November, and Smith’s already busy schedule became even more so, but in a fulfilling, even exhilarating way.
Indeed, he’s part of the building committee that has been finalizing plans for the school, and as he talked with Busi- nessWest, he was working with the construction company Fontaine Bros. and other parties on plans for the ceremonial start of preparation of the ground for construction of the new high school (that took place on June 17).
While doing all that, Smith has been reflecting on how the project will impact this town of roughly 16,500, starting with a likely rise in that number because of what a new high school means to a community that has all the other ingredi- ents for growth — land; a strong, diverse business commu- nity; vibrant neighborhoods; and high quality of life.
“It’s exciting to really shape the future for a number of years,” he said. “This moves the community as a whole for-
ward, and we’ll have a building that’s current in terms of how it not only engages students, but how it engages the community.”
The long-awaited start of work on the new high school
is one of many developing stories in East Longmeadow. Plans to construct a large warehouse on the former Package Machinery complex on Shaker Road have been turned down by the Planning Board and are now in litigation. Meanwhile, town leaders are in early-stage work to address concerns about affordable housing stock in the community.
“With the new high school, and thinking about the cost of living, we’re trying to see if an affordable-housing component makes sense in the downtown area, with some kind of density housing.”
Town Manager Tom Christensen said town leaders are exploring creation of a Center Town District featuring mixed- use development including housing options, such as apart- ments or town-
houses, that would
enable more
people to come to
East Longmeadow
>>
Continued on page 10
8 JUNE 24, 2024
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