HOLYOKE – The Finance Committee heard and accepted the Community Preservation Act Committee’s recommendations for projects in fiscal year 2023 during their March 29 meeting.

The recommendations went to the City Council for final discussion and approval during their April 4 meeting. The CPA Committee had reviewed applicants for potential CPA projects through their meeting discussions and hearings before creating a final list of recommendations that were being presented during the meeting.

CPA Committee Chair Meagan Magrath-Smith joined the committee via zoom to talk through the proposals. She noted the committee considers historic preservation, affordable housing and open space or recreational projects when considering proposals. She added they also used survey data and scored the applications to best decide where to allocate funding.

Magrath-Smith also made note that in this process historic preservation applicants had to obtain a letter from the city’s Historical Commission to ensure the project was historical and detailed the scope of work. She also added the U.S. Department of the Interior issues standards for preservation projects and that a paid consultant assists with the process and generates a report on if it is meeting the proper standards to qualify.

The first recommended CPA project shared by Magrath-Smith was a $100,000 for continued work on Phase II of the Scott Tower and Anniversary Hill restoration.

CPA funds for Phase I covered the cost of acquisition and protection of 14.1 acres and site planning. Phase II will use preliminary site concepts to budget and apply for grants for the full landscape design, engineering and construction. Construction will include trail work, landscaping, picnic areas and the restoration of existing stone structures.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation awarded $30,000 in 2022 to complete the initial park concept and schematic design for Anniversary Hill-Scott Tower and assess the property.

“I will say this area and Scotts Tower are wildly popular and in all of CPA’s initial meetings Scott Tower got brought up a lot,” said Magrath-Smith. “A lot of people in Holyoke remember when that park was in its heyday. They really want us to bring it back.”

Another project of note being recommended from the CPA Committee was a $250,000 project for restoring the façade of the Wright Building at 106-120 High St. The restoration will see new National Park Service-approved historic windows, an accessible ramp and door and masonry repairs.

Applicants on behalf of the proposed CPA project were in chambers and answered a few questions to the Finance Committee as well as broke down their vision for the space. The speaker on behalf of the proposal was owner of the building Vadim Tulchinsky.

Tulchinsky called the project a “labor of love” for him and his team and are looking to establish the building as an economic anchor in downtown. Their request of $250,000 would be matched by themselves in order to complete the project.

Leading up to their time to speak, At-Large Councilor Kevin Jourdain noted he still had some questions regarding giving out CPA funding for projects such as this that are privately owned. Tulchinsky when speaking said he completely understood Jourdain’s point but in the big picture this was still a city asset he was attempting to bring back to relevance.

“I would just point out that either way, regardless of who owns it, it’s an asset for the city,” Tulchinsky said. “This building will outlive all of us hopefully if we treat it right and I worry that if we wait around for when every single publicly owned building is going to be perfectly fixed to historical nature, then we will have lost significant non-governmental owned buildings…so many of these other beautiful historic buildings that are worthy of preservation.”

Tulchinsky also added he and his colleagues on the project were currently losing money each month as they await preservation of the building before bringing in more businesses for the space.

“But we’re happy to do it with the idea that, you know, down the road it’s going to become something that we’ll be able to give to the city and have it outlive us as I said,” Tulchinsky added.

Jourdain was with his fellow Finance Committee members in a clear 5-0 vote to approve all projects and even noted he thought all projects presented were worthy of CPA dollars. He also noted he would still be pursuing getting a list of city owned spaces from the city that requires preservation and would fit in CPA parameters. In past discussion he and other councilors felt there were projects missed out on due to nobody bringing these public space city needs to the CPA Committee or City Council.

Finance Committee Chair and At-Large Councilor Joseph McGiverin noted when he was younger this area of the city was a hub for business and had fond memories of its peak run before aging.

“This was one of the best-preserved commercial blocks in Holyoke,” Magrath-Smith added.

Another project being recommended to the City Council following this meeting was a $95,000 CPA grant for preservation planning and damage repairs assessment or what is an in-depth engineering survey of the main and carriage houses.

The survey would map out future plans for the repairing and restoration at Wistariahurst. Magrath-Smith noted that leftover funds would fix an active leak in one of the buildings chimneys.

Another recommendation with a more notable price tag was the recommendation of further conservation of Gloutak Park on Rock Valley Road. According to the CPA recommendation document, a $177,900 award funded the purchase and preservation of a 51.7-acre parcel.

Nonprofit Greenagers and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation used $47,000 to build a trail system and the hopes are partnering with Greenagers for more work on the trail system will improve grading and eliminate all-terrain vehicle access points.
The CPA Committee also set aside $32,000 for a Master Plan for Jones Point Park. The city’s Park

Department proposed replacing an aging play structure that had fallen into disrepair. The said play structure has since been removed out of safety concerns.

Magrath-Smith noted that the park has a basketball court that has gone unused and has cracks that need to be repaired. She also noted the park has field space that could be utilized for youth sports.
A consulting firm will draw up the master plan for the park and determine its best uses. A citywide stakeholder committee would assist in planning.

The last recommended project from the CPA Committee was for a $9,990 CPA grant to save over 30 journals stored in the City Hall basement. The money would support the cleaning process and re-boxing of historical city documents.

Magrath-Smith said the restored journals would be stored at Wistariahurst or the Holyoke Public Library’s History Room.