East School proposal: Few details are available

One of Springfield’s newest developers has plans for the vacant East School.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151007/NEWS02/151009943

PHOTO BY LEN EMERY East School Published October 7, 2015 in the Rutland Herald East School proposal: Few details are available By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — One of Springfield’s newest developers has plans for the vacant East School. But whether the Springfield School Board will agree with the plan by Darrell Lee, who recently moved to Vermont from the Los Angeles area, remains to be seen. Lee went behind closed doors with the School Board Monday to discuss East School. But Lee declined to comment Tuesday whether the board had accepted his proposal. “They will inform their broker as to their decision,” Lee wrote in an email. Superintendent Zach McLaughlin couldn’t be reached Tuesday. The school district has been seeking $150,000 for the school and 2.5 acres of land. Lee said Monday night, shortly before the executive session with four members of the School Board, that he felt Springfield was not taking advantage of one of its biggest assets — the extremely fast Internet speeds from Vermontel, the Springfield-based telephone and Internet provider. Lee, who earlier this year bought the Odd Fellows Building in downtown Springfield, as well as a home in the Pedden Acres development, said Springfield had to exploit its low housing and commercial real estate costs, as well as the Internet speeds. “We have some of the fastest Internet speeds in the country,” Lee said. “It should be one of the high tech centers.” He said that Silicon Valley in northern California has astronomical housing prices, while Springfield has “very low home prices and low commercial rental rates.” “In Silicon Valley, you pay $700,000 for a one-bedroom shack,” he said. East School was one of the town’s neighborhood elementary schools until about 10 years ago; it most recently housed the Gateway Program for the school district. But the school district put the school up for sale two years ago. At one point, Springfield Medical Care Systems, the parent organization of Springfield Hospital, was on the verge of buying the property, which is on Summer Street. The School Board has listed the 1920 two-story brick schoolhouse at $150,000, although in 2013 it was on the verge of selling the building for $100,000 to Springfield Medical Care, which backed out of the deal.