Belchertown State School Slated for Environmental Cleanup

Belchertown State School was built in 1922 on a 150-acre campus on Route 202 in the small, rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts. The campus originally consisted of over 30 red brick buildings including a theater, infirmary, nursery, and on site cafeteria and laundry. Children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy were sent to live at Belchertown where parents entrusted the state with the care and education of their developmentally disabled children. However by the 1970's, deinstitutionalization was in full swing and the school closed some of its more notorious back wards, demolishing them and selling the land back to the town of Belchertown. The remaining buildings were closed in 1992 and remain abandoned.

The campus was sold for development in 2007 to Bridgeland LLC. of Chicago for the sum of $10.00 but all plans for development stalled almost immediately, and the buildings have remained idle for over a year, creating an excessive level of environmental contamination from the asbestos and lead paint in almost every building. Bridgeland's original proposal to create a hotel and spa on the former state school grounds was accepted by the Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corp. (EDIC) but issues with finances and non-payment of numerous sub-contractors prompted the town to take control of the property once again and redevelopment plans were tabled indefinitely as town officials faced the challenge of abating and demolishing large portions of the campus, a cost that they feel should be shouldered by the Commonwealth.

A $1.6 billion environmental bond bill was approved by the Massachusetts House of Representatives in mid-July of 2008. The bill included a generous appropriation of $10 million for asbestos removal at the former Belchertown State School off of Route 202. The majority of the school's campus was erected in 1922 and many of the oldest buildings, which were constructed of red brick have begun to collapse, many also falling prey to arson, vandalism, and metal scrapping. A portion of the $10 million will be devoted to demolishing those buildings.

The Belchertown State School campus stretches over acres of prime development land that the town is eager to see remediated in hopes that future development will bring in new employment opportunities, as well as tax dollars which the town desperately needs. The town currently plans to remove more than thirty buildings from the campus after receipt of the funds.

The bill also provides $3.5 million dollars in funding for the cleanup of Springfield area parks, as well as $800,000 for a dike repair in the town of Hadley.