In the coming months, Belchertown officials will decide whether the Tagdell building is worth spending an estimated $1.2 million to repair
BELCHERTOWN — Is the mammoth one-story Tadgell building – once an integral School Department structure that was also a state emergency command center – worth spending an estimated $1.2 million to repair?
The Belchertown School Committee thinks it is, but wants to hear from the community. In the coming months the board will confer with town officials on the matter.
Alternative education programs take place in sections of the building at present.
Eric Weiss
School committee vice chairman Eric Weiss said that for the school or a town department to fully reoccupy the Tagdell building, it must be brought up to code.
“We are trying to highlight for the town the costs we are looking at,” should Belchertown decide to give Tagdell a complete refurbishment, Weiss said Monday.
“In the long run we will have another valuable town asset to utilize” if the repairs are completed, he said.
At last week’s school board meeting the panel released a study on what it would cost to rehabilitate the 53-year old building.
The report was prepared by Roy S. Brown Architects of Wilbraham.
Replacing the 25,416-square-foot main roof is estimated to cost $355,000 – “Additionally, steel reinforcements will be required for another $90,000,” the report states.
At 42,648 square feet, the building contains nearly an acre of usable space, including the basement and ground floors.
The structure was built in 1959 and was originally part of the former Belchertown State School.