decade in office. The project replaced an outdated intersection with improved sidewalks, shared-use bike paths, and preserved parking while adding municipal spaces. Education infrastructure has seen significant upgrades, including the $60 million Coburn School reconstruction completed near Town Hall. “We finished our high school back in 2014,” Reichelt notes, “and we’re beginning the very early stages of rebuilding Fausey School,” the district’s secondlargest elementary facility. Utility improvements are equally ambitious. The city has systematically addressed water and sewer systems since 2017, with recent work on Belle Avenue and Chapin Street.“Every year, we’re kind of picking a street, doing the water sewer infrastructure on it, and then paving it and moving forward,” explains Reichelt. The mile-and-a-half Memorial Avenue reconstruction stands out, combining underground utility upgrades with a complete redesign of the street. “It should be paved early next year as they reconstruct it to add shared-use bicycle paths, new pedestrian crossings, and make it that complete streets kind of atmosphere” Reichelt adds. For public safety, the planned police complex behind Town Hall leverages the strategic acquisition of a former Walgreens property.“To have an opportunity to purchase the building directly behind Town Hall and keep the municipal campus that we’ve developed over the years right in the center of town to support our downtown, it was really a home run. It’s going to be huge for morale,” Reichelt shares, emphasizing the project’s importance for both officers and downtown vitality. “Ideally, I’d love to cut that ribbon within five years.” Recreational spaces haven’t been overlooked. ARPA funds have modernized playgrounds across all schools and parks, with Cooks Park representing the 221 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 05 WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA
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