The Friends of the Senior Center has pledged to raise $2 million toward the building.
Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette looks over one of the model planes at the Chicopee Senior Center that the Friends of the Senior Center hope to have painted and auctioned off to raise money for a new building.CHICOPEE – First there were the Easthampton bears, then there were the West Springfield terriers and the Springfield sneakers. Now there are Planes Over Chicopee.
The Friends of the Senior Center unveiled its first large-scale effort to raise money to build a new senior center earlier this week. Similar to other campaigns held across the country, artists will paint large statues, display them and auction them off to the highest bidder.
“If you are not excited about it now, I assure you, you will be. It is a wonderful, wonderful project,” Charles E. Desmarais, chairman of the Council on Aging, said.
The Friends of the Senior Center pledged to raise $2 million toward the construction of a new building. The City Council has also agreed to borrow up to $4 million for the project and the city plans to borrow $5 million from the federal government and pay that money over 20 years using some of the annual federal Community Development Block Grant funds it receives.
With Westover Air Reserve Base being the city’s largest employer, it seemed a model of its C-5 Galaxy jets was an ideal symbol, officials said.
Already artists have been selected to paint the 20 models. During the unveiling ceremony, organizers showed some proposals which included patriotic themes, one had the city seal and one was covered with a chain of flowers.
The first auction will be held at 5 p.m. on June 1 in a gala affair at the Knights of Columbus. Tickets will be $20 if purchased ahead of time and $25 at the door, said John F. Arthur, spokesman for the fund-raising effort.
The sponsor a plane, a business or person must bid at least $1,400, which will cover the $1,000 cost to purchase the fiberglass plane that measures 4 by 5 feet, and art supplies. The sponsor does not purchase the plane, but will have a plaque with their name attached to it, Desmarais said.
The planes will then be placed in undetermined locations around the city and in the fall a second auction will be held to sell the models, he said.
City Treasurer Ernest N. Laflamme, who is co-chairman of the entire fund-raising operation in partnership with former Mayor Richard J. Kos, said Planes Over Chicopee is one of many fund-raising efforts the committee will be operating over the next few years.
“We are really beginning our efforts now,” Kos said. “On behalf of myself and (Laflamme) we are happy to lend our time and efforts to make this a reality.”
The new senior center is slated to be built off West Main Street on land which housed the former Facemate Corporation, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said.
“We are doing this with very creative funding,” he said. “Today the most important of this kicks off, that is citizen involvement.”