The project will cost about $10 million and create 40 apartments for veterans.
This is an undated photo of Chapin School, which has been closed since 2004.
CHICOPEE — The long-closed Chapin School will get a new life as housing for homeless veterans.
Last week Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, flanked by officials from the Community Development office, announced the non-profit agency Soldier On and its partner, the O’Connell Companies, submitted a $100,000 bid to purchase the old school. It plans to renovate it and create studio apartments with private baths and kitchenettes.
“It will put this building on the tax rolls for the first time, it will put more feet on the streets of Willimansett,” he said. “The most significant is it is providing a service for veterans.”
The $10 million project will provide housing for about 40 veterans, Bissonnette said.
“I am very grateful to know we will have a project with Soldier On,” said City Council President George R. Moreau, who represents the Willimansett neighborhood where Chapin School is located. “I want to put some life in this old building.”
Soldier On, which has similar projects in Northampton, Pittsfield and Agawam, works with homeless veterans to provide services geared to each individual. That includes job training, care for addiction services and medical services, said John F. Downing, president of Soldier On.
An estimated 300 veterans are currently working with Soldier On. The average age is 49, 84 percent had an addiction problem, 82 percent need mental health treatment and many have medical problems. About 60 percent served in the Vietnam War and a growing number are returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, he said.
The program works like cooperative housing, where each veteran will buy a $25,000 share in the building and will pay a monthly rent that is set under the Housing and Urban Development guidelines for low-income residents. In Chicopee it will likely be about $600, Downing said.
Veterans typically receive veterans’ benefits, Social Security income and a number work full or part-time. Some use their benefits or get loans from banks, he said.
The money earned through rent is put into an account to make loan payments, pay utilities, property taxes, maintenance and other expenses. The veterans often do their own maintenance when possible and are careful with expenses to save money, Downing said.
“The number one reason we want to be in this community is its commitment to its veterans,” Downing said.
The school, on Meadow Street, is also next to bus lines and across the street from a park.
It will take the partners between 18 months and two years to secure financing for the project, which will be done with a combination of tax credits, private money, grants and other sources, said Dennis Fitzpatrick, president of The O’Connell Companies.
It should take another year to renovate the building, he said.
Fitzpatrick said the age and design of the building will make it challenging to convert and maximize space so as many apartments can be added as possible. It will also be made handicapped accessible.
All three floors will be used for apartments and a meeting room. The only space that will not be apartments is a basement meeting room and an area for mechanicals, he said.