SPRINGFIELD – The official transfer of the Arthur MacArthur United States Army Reserve Center at 50 East St. to the city of Springfield will serve two purposes – it will give a permanent home to three police functions and will honor the late former Springfield Police Chief Paul Fenton.

Mayor Domenic Sarno, Congressman Richard Neal and Police Commissioner John Barbieri were among the officials at a ceremony on Dec. 14 during which the deed of the building was handed over to Sarno.

Sarno explained the building would be the site of the Joseph A. Budd Youth Assessment Center, the training division of the department as well as the property department and the tactical response unit.

The city did not have to pay for the building.

Barbieri said the Police Department has been using the facility for training purposes since 1995 and began speaking with Army Reserve officials about possibly taking over the building since 2005.

“The U.S. military reserve has been very kind to us,” Barbieri said.
The building has been the home of the most recent Springfield Police Academy, a role that will be continued in the future.    

The commissioner added that renovations to the building to upgrade it to municipal building code will take a year to 18 months and should be completed by January 2017 but no later than April 2017.

The cost of the renovations is between $10 million and $12 million. He explained, “in the long run [paying for the renovations] beats paying a lease.” He added the building represents “an investment not just for the Police Department, but for the city.”

The commissioner noted that former Police Commissioner William Fitchett started the process of acquiring the building.

He said the property storage at police headquarters on Pearl Street is “bursting” and the new space will allow for larger and better storage of evidence.

Barbieri is also very pleased the city will have a permanent home for the Joseph A. Budd Youth Assessment Center. The city’s website describes part of the function of the Budd Center as processing “all juveniles under arrest, investigate criminal cases where the suspect is a juvenile, investigate and maintain reports of runaway and missing juveniles and work with the Springfield Public Schools to provide a safe and healthy learning environment.” The state mandates a separate facility for juvenile offenders. The facility is currently at 39 Mulberry St.

The commissioner said the Budd Center has never been in a city owned property.    

The building will be named the Paul J. Fenton Public Safety Annex, to honor the late former police chief.  Congressman Richard Neal praised Fenton for his work. When Neal was mayor, Fenton was chief.

City Councilor Thomas Ashe said Fenton “exemplified the word ‘humility.’”

He added, “I can’t think of a more deserving person.”

Fenton’s son Tim, a retired Springfield police officer, said that if his father were alive he would be “slightly embarrassed” by the attention being paid to him.

“He would then say to me, ‘Geez, Timmy, this is a beautiful, beautiful place,’” Fenton said.