Springfield completes transfers

Springfield is the proud new owner of two downtown buildings the town says are keys to its Main Street revitalization plans.


www.rutlandherald.com    

Springfield completes transfers Rutland Herald | January 31, 2017 By SUSAN SMALLHEER STAFF WRITER Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell stands in front of two downtown buildings that were acquired by the town last week as part of its revitalization plan. SUSAN SMALLHEER / STAFF FILE PHOTO Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell stands in front of two downtown buildings that were acquired by the town last week as part of its revitalization plan. SUSAN SMALLHEER / STAFF FILE PHOTO SPRINGFIELD — Springfield is the proud new owner of two downtown buildings the town says are keys to its Main Street revitalization plans. Town Manager Tom Yennerell said Monday that the purchase of the two buildings, one at 5-7 Main Street and the other at 9-11 Main Street, was completed on Friday. The closing ended about a year of negotiations between owner Christopher Mason and the town. The two buildings are locally known as the Springfield Bakery building and the Visiting Nurse building. Yennerell said the town plans to tear down the VNA building to open up views of the Black River and the Comtu Cascades falls. What will happen to the bakery building will be decided by spring, he said. He said the purchase price was $190,000 and that the money came from an old revolving loan fund account that had been inactive for about 20 years. “He did OK,” Yenerell said of the purchase price. Yennerell said now that the properties are in the town’s hands, the actual plans for the buildings will be finalized. “We would like to thank Chris Mason for working with the town to make the ownership transition smooth,” he said. “Chris has an emotional attachment to the buildings, as he improved them and then maintained them for years,” the manager said. “His original goal when he purchased them was to make them flagships for downtown Springfield. Now the town will continue with that goal,” he said. Mason has 45 days to remove his belongings from the two buildings, the manager said. Mason was living in a section of the Visiting Nurse building and stored possessions on the third floor of the bakery building, Yennerell said, adding that there are also rented apartments in the bakery building. Yennerell said the town’s downtown consultant is working on plans that include the two buildings. The Visiting Nurse building is structurally unsafe and sits on the banks of the Black River. The bakery building is listed as part of the town’s downtown historic district as well. The town could find a developer for the bakery building, he said, or tear it down and create additional parking or more green space. Yennerell said Mason still owns the Parks & Woolson manufacturing plant on the other side of the Black River. He said the town would not purchase Parks & Woolson, despite its key location. “We don’t have the money,” he said. Yennerell said the town did an environmental assessment of the two buildings it purchased and the study showed the buildings were “clean” and free of any toxic pollution.