Easthampton’s Pepin School faces water damage, city weighs options

EASTHAMPTON — Mayor Salem Derby alerted the City Council that there may be some activity at the now-closed Pepin Elementary School in the near future, after multiple water sprinklers burst inside the building.

“Last week, more than one sprinkler head broke,” Derby said at the council’s Feb. 18 meeting. “It wasn’t necessarily the cold, it was more it was rusty.”

Derby said the sprinkler breaks did not cause any substantial damage because they were over linoleum flooring. The other damage Derby referred to occurred last year after a water main broke and damaged the gymnasium floor, causing it to “bubble.”

Derby spoke with Department of Public Works Director Greg Nuttelman after the sprinkler bursts, who recommended that the city turn off the water off and potentially shut power off to the building.

“That created a broader conversation with the fire chief because having a building of that size in a neighborhood, we wanted to make sure that we weren’t going to do anything that was potentially hazardous to the surrounding buildings,” Derby said.

Derby noted that since Pepin is made of brick and masonry, it is not a highly flammable building. Rather than an electrical fire being a concern, he said the city wants to avoid any trespassing on the property, so some of the windows at the old elementary school will be reinforced with more wooden barriers.

The city’s Elementary School Reuse project is still underway, seeking to utilize the three former school buildings — Pepin, Maple and Center schools. Currently, the schools are planned for redevelopment by Arch Communities LLC of Fairhaven, to be turned into affordable apartments to begin in December 2028.

Derby has been attempting to utilize the properties until then, having turned the former Maple Street School lot and playground area into temporary public parking. He also said he wants to utilize the Pepin gymnasium this winter for recreational use, until observing the damage caused by last year’s water main break.

Having traveled to Pittsfield last week to hear Gov. Maura Healey make an announcement, the mayor said he was able to speak with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus, to put Easthampton’s elementary school project on their radar.

“We talked about our school reuse project and I expressed to them some of the challenges of carrying these older buildings over multiple years,” Derby said about his conversation with Driscoll and Augustus. “And trying to find ways to expedite the process of turning these beautiful buildings into beautiful housing.”

Derby said the two were receptive during the conversation and they told him they will make note of the project with another round of affordable housing funding opening soon. In an interview, Derby said he will be meeting with Arch Communities this week to discuss ways to move the project forward.

Town Lodging House

The city is drafting a request for proposals for the Town Lodging House, which has peaked the interest of the Farmer Veteran Coalition with hopes to potentially use the property as a veteran’s farming training home and affordable housing.

The house, located at 75 Oliver St. was built in 1890 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been used as affordable housing for many years. Though it has remained vacant for more than seven years now, the city has been seeking different ways to use the property, which has several restrictions that must be followed.

At the City Council Property Committee’s Feb. 5 meeting, City Procurement Officer Michael Owens said the proposal from the Farmer Veteran Coalition in collaboration with Renewal Initiatives, seems like a nice match for the property.

The proposal entails, “A veteran’s training program that really addresses all aspects of a veteran’s life, character, self esteem, how they fit in with a community, what their skills are in term of farming and then developing those skills so they can then go on to be future farmers of America,” Owens said at the meeting.

The restrictions on the roughly 54-acre property include historic preservation, agricultural preservation and affordable housing use. Owens and committee members discussed that the proposal could match the restrictions and maintain the city’s goals for the property.

“One of the goals of this disposition is not to get as much money for the property as we possibly can,” Owens said at the meeting. “I think our plan and this is really up to the Property Committee to decide, that the goal here is really a public benefit.”

The property previously drew interest from housing nonprofit Valley CDC, which withdrew its plans, according to Owens.

“ValleyCDC withdrew from their potential project and not only did they have some financial issues related to their plans, but they also had a lot of neighborhood opposition,” Owens said at the meeting.

Owens said there are still a lot of moving parts between the property and the proposal, but currently the RFP is planned to be reviewed by the Property Committee at its next meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Main Street Improvement project

The Main Street Improvement Project continues to progress, after recently hitting its 25% design milestone.

“We reached the 25% design milestone and sent the design plans to MassDOT and they got back to us with comments that the engineers have been addressing in the plans,” said Allyson Manuel, the city’s Director of Planning and Community Development.

The Main Street Improvement Project has been ongoing and seeks to improve accessibility, support local businesses, and preserve the historic character of the whole downtown section from the Manhan River bridge on West Street to the Emily Williston Memorial Library.

Currently, Manuel said the city is waiting to meet with project consultant Bowman Consulting Group Inc. and MassDOT to discuss the 25% plans, improvements that can be made and alternative options. She said she hopes the meeting will happen in the coming months, but it has been difficult for schedules to align.

The project went through a trial run nearly two years ago in 2024 and has utilized public input to develop plans to find the best design for Main Street. Mannuel said the meeting will be a step forward to continue progressing plans.

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