Business View Magazine - June 2016 115
ing, historic preservation, recreation improvement, and
open-space acquisition,” he continues. “That’s a little
bit over $2 million. Other public infrastructure that’s in
the pipeline is a new, 750-student elementary school.
We’re taking an existing school, building onto it, then
knocking the existing one down and replacing that, so
it’s sort of two elementary schools on one site.” Other
projects include the expansion and renovation of the
town’s public library, construction of a new central fire
station, and construction of a new public works facility.
“Those are ambitious projects,” Hechenbleikner says.
“We don’t have the funding all in place for all of them,
but those are our infrastructure needs, right now.”
Hechenbleikner explains that the elementary school is
a $60 million project, half of which will be paid for by
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the other
half by the taxpayers of Amherst. “The library is a $20
million project, about half paid by the Commonwealth
and the other half paid by the town,” he adds, “which
may mean fundraising by the library, and the remain-
