West Springfield officials celebrate groundbreaking for new Coburn school

Dec. 15, 2020 | Ryan Feyre
rfeyre@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com

Town officials and West Springfield school faculty were among the group of people attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Coburn school.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The town of West Springfield will have a new and improved Philip G. Coburn Elementary School by the fall of 2022.

On Dec. 9, town officials, architects, the general contractor, current West Springfield school faculty, and former West Springfield students gathered on the green behind the century-old Coburn school to host a groundbreaking ceremony for a new chapter in the school’s history.

By the end of 2022, elementary school students in West Springfield will be attending an entirely new Coburn school that will rise behind the current one.

The $69 million project, which was first brought to the town in 2014, will be three stories high, overlapping a few houses on Lathrop Street that were bought by the town last year.

“This is a huge joint project that isn’t just a school-wide project,” said West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt. “It’s a town-wide project.”

According to Reichelt, 80 percent of this project was funded by the state with support from state Sen. Jim Welch and state Rep. Michael Finn. The town has been able to advance this project without an overriding vote from the town council.

“We’ve also built a $115 million high school and a $15 million library, and we were able to do it without increasing taxes,” said Reichelt.

In 1998, when the new West Springfield Middle School was completed, the town’s junior high was converted into an elementary school, which would eventually be renamed to honor Philip G. Coburn. Coburn, who according to Superintendent Tim Connor, was a “great educator,” and integral community leader.

“I think he would be delighted to know that the school was named in his honor, and that you’re continuing the tradition of community and education that he valued so much” said Tom Coburn, the son of the late Philip Coburn.

Marie Coburn, the wife of Philip, explained during the ceremony how honored she is to see her husband’s name being celebrated by the school.

"One of the reasons why I always loved the Coburn school was because it was for immigrants,” she said. “I came to the United States when I was 10, and thanks to the teachers, I learned how to speak English.”

The school, according to former Vice Principal Collen Marcus, is a “special place” that transcends the interior shortcomings of the building. Aside from being a home to students, the school also became a place for residents to stay after losing their homes to the 2011 tornado. The Coburn community donated money and time, according to Marcus. Over 100 residents who lost their home slept in the gymnasium and ate in the cafeteria as the city began to recover.

“Coburn is more than a school,” said Marcus. “Coburn is a community … Coburn is a family.”

Classes in the old building will continue while construction is being done to the new establishment.

The new Coburn school plans to have music, art, science, and technology classes, as well as two library-media centers.

Fontaine Bros. of Springfield is the general contractor of the project, and demolition of the old school is expected to occur during the fall of 2022.

“The new Coburn school has been developed around the needs of the students and teachers, and will provide for the 21st century learning our children deserve,” said Connor. “The spaces will lend to further supporting the structural model, and expand learning opportunities for all students.”

The old Coburn school has been standing since 1924.

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