Belchertown, Massachusetts, has secured $1 million to begin transforming the former Tadgell School, an empty building, into a community resilience hub.
Belchertown has secured $1 million to redevelop the Tadgell School into a community resilience hub, according to WWLP, which could help keep residents safe during extreme weather-related power outages or dangerous temperatures.
Here's what to know
Belchertown's project was funded in the first grant round issued through ECO One Stop, a new program overseen by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The money is coming through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Grant program, one of seven funding tracks included in that rollout.
The town qualified for its Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness designation by going through a local planning effort that identified climate threats and set priority actions.
Plans for the former Tadgell School call for a flexible, multiuse site that could include meeting space, business areas, offices for health and social services, and emergency support for locals.
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As a resilience hub, it would provide residents with a place to access electricity, heat, or air conditioning during storms, outages, or periods of extreme temperatures.
More background
Because the grant covers the redevelopment, the town will not need to increase local taxes to pay for construction.
The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission had previously worked with Belchertown during its Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Planning 2.0 process.
After three years of public outreach, the resilience hub was identified as one of the town's top three priorities.
What's being done?
Town officials said the successful application depended in part on cross-departmental coordination.
"Securing this funding through the very first round of ECO One Stop shows how much stronger our applications become when departments work together toward a shared goal," said Belchertown Grants Coordinator Dawn Cote.
"We're grateful to our state partners for this investment, and we're looking forward to building on it."
For the next phase of the project, the town has contracted with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission as its partner.
Town Manager Steve Williams observed that the project answered long-standing calls for a central gathering place.
"The Tadgell School has sat empty for too long and residents have made it clear that a true community gathering space is long overdue," he said.
"This grant lets us take a meaningful first step toward turning that building into something the whole community can use and be proud of."
Where can I learn more?
Belchertown's plan is part of a wider effort to make public buildings more useful during emergencies and better prepare communities for climate-related disruptions.
Other communities are pursuing similar work through school maintenance, clean energy projects, and local resilience planning.
• Across the US, crucial school upgrades are moving forward with $190 million in federal funding.
• Along the Mississippi River, localities are revisiting municipal resilience planning as disaster risks and insurance pressures grow.
These efforts highlight how public buildings and local planning can support more than day-to-day community needs. In a storm, outage, or heat wave, they can be a valuable part of the local response.
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