By KATY SAVAGE
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SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — After about a year of studies, officials from the Springfield Regional Development Corporation and Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) unveiled renovation plans for the former Park Street School at a school board meeting Monday.
SRDC Executive Director Bob Flint said the organizations would like to turn the building into a multi-use business center. There would be 11 loft apartments, a coffee shop, art gallery, rooftop deck and space for filming and editing.
“We hope to leverage the high-speed internet capacity and turn that into a hub that can take advantage of that,” Flint said.
Springfield has some of the fastest fiber internet speed in the world, making it an ideal location for film editing.
Flint and CORI founder Matt Dunne presented plans for what the redevelopment could look like. It would include new parking spaces and a multi-use auditorium.
SRDC and CORI has had an option to purchase the building for a nominal fee since last June. Flint and Dunne said they would likely ask for an extension before the option agreement expires at the end of this month.
The redevelopment of the building would be a multi-million-dollar project. Dunne said they would know by September or October if federal funds are available to make the project feasible.
“We are thinking big,” he said.
SRDC, a private, non-profit regional development corporation, serves 10 towns in Windsor County and helps start-up companies and businesses locate to the area. SRCD owns several historic buildings in Springfield, which it is working to restore and repurpose. Similarly, CORI works with community leaders to build hubs in rural downtowns.
The 1898 Park Street School building at 60 Park Street was a high school until the late 1960s. It was then converted to an elementary school until it closed about six years ago.
SRDC and CORI are in the middle of getting the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A phase 1 environmental study, which looked at the history of the property, was also completed earlier this year, unveiling asbestos issues, but no large concerns.
“Generally, environmental issues aren’t that bad,” Flint said.
A phase 2 environmental study, which will involve soil samples, will be done this summer.
Park Street School is currently used for the school district’s central offices. The gymnasium is also used by Springfield Parks and Recreation.
Flint and Dunne are working with an architecture firm on the design details.They envision keeping the central district offices where they are.
“It’s just stunning,” said school board member Jeanice Garfield of the design.
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