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Health & Fitness

What to do with Bridge Street School

The Town of Suffield continues to explore options for the future use of the Bridge Street School building and site. The future of this property has been examined, explored and debated for ten years, with no consensus being found. We need to do something with the building, and do it soon. However, we need to go about doing something the right way.

 As for the building itself, I love it. It is a beautiful building, which I spent many afternoon and weekend days playing in, and around, as a child (I’m proud to say my mother was a teacher there for many years, and I learned so much from her, and her many colleagues who worked with her in the building. I could go on for days talking about conversations Mrs. Neilson and I had there, or telling stories, such as my trying to catch Mrs. Christian’s gerbils that had gotten out of their cage, but that is not the point of this article). If and when the building is torn down, I’m sure I will shed a tear, but I’ll always have my memories of the building, and more importantly the people, who made it what it was.

 We should not have closed the school down back in 2004. I was on the Board of Education at that time and I opposed closing the building down. I wanted the Town to continue to utilize the building, while developing a future plan for it. I remember saying at a meeting, that if we closed the building down, it will slowly deteriorate and ultimately suffer the same fate as the former West Suffield School. Here we are ten years later, and the building is still empty, we still have no plan for it, and it continues to deteriorate.

 When I was First Selectman I brought several different contractors, construction experts, and officials into Bridge Street School to discuss possible uses for it. We looked at converting it into town offices, a senior center, a library, a CREC (Capital Region Educational Counsel) magnet school, as well as various other potential uses. Unfortunately the layout and structural composition of the building greatly impedes any use that we considered. For example, most of the interior walls are “load bearing walls” and cannot be easily moved, and if moved a great deal of work (at great financial expense) would have to be done to support the roof. Despite these options that we explored, none made sense for the building and the Town. This past year the Town brought forward a proposal to sell the building, and have it converted into apartments. This proposal was soundly defeated at a Town Meeting.

 This coming week the Suffield Selectman’s Office has scheduled the first of three open houses to let the public into the Bridge Street School building to view its condition. In theory this is a great idea, and I’m sure there are many others, like me, who would love to go into this building again and see it. But, while this sounds like a great idea, the Town Leaders are doing the public a great disservice by “opening the building up to the public” as they are knowingly putting the health and safety of the public in jeopardy.

 On April 9, 2013, the North Central District Health Department (the “Health Department”) sent the First Selectman an e-mail noting that they inspected the building to determine if it was safe to be opened to the public. In examining the building, they found the following:

• “strong musty odor, evidence of mold”

• “floors, walls and the ceiling were in poor condition”

• “most likely there is lead paint and asbestos in the building” and lastly

• “Based on the present condition of the building it is recommended that the building not be opened for tours by the public” (emphasis added)

All of the above quotes are available in an e-mail to the First Selectman dated April 9, 2013.

 I firmly believe that the main function and purpose of government is to provide for the safety of the public. It appears the Suffield government is letting us down. Since the leaders seem to be refusing to look out for our health and safety, I feel obligated to let everyone know the recommendations of our Health Department. This way we can each make an informed decision as to whether or not to visit Bridge Street School, knowing the potential health and safety risks associated therewith.

 Sadly, at this point, we will be better off tearing the building down, and saving this property for a future municipal use, rather than continuing to watch the building deteriorate and crumble on its own (which it is already doing). Maybe in the future we’ll want to use that land for a new Fire Station, giving us the option to expand Town Hall on the site where the current Main Fire Station is located. Or maybe we will want to preserve that land to be used as a municipal park. But regardless, we will have that land for future use, and will no longer incur the expenses and liability of deteriorating, crumbling, unkempt building.

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