Belchertown Select Board Approves America 250 Proclamation, Flag Raising, and Fireworks Plans

BELCHERTOWN -- June 15, 2026, Belchertown Select Board unanimously approved an America 250 proclamation and authorized a July 1 flag raising while hearing that full renovation of the vacant Tadgell School would cost nearly $22 million. Architects Lindsay Schnarr of Kuhn Riddle Associates and engineer Craig French of Tighe & Bond presented a schematic design splitting the 20,000-square-foot former school 60-40 between business and community use, with cost estimating subconsultant PM&C placing the renovation at roughly $545 per square foot. Town Manager Steve Grenke said stabilizing the building alone, primarily the failing roof, would run up to $3 million, and outlined three paths forward: town ownership with a debt exclusion, a public-private partnership through an RFP, or outright sale. "The worst case scenario," Grenke said, "would be to accept grants, put money into a building, and then have it sit vacant and tear it down in five years." The board also voted 4-0 to grandfather the Belchertown Community Band's 36-by-60-inch concert sign on the Town Common through August 16, confirmed John Ritter as board clerk, and cleared roughly $27,000 in end-of-year municipal appropriation transfers. EDIC Chair Beth Maroney and Vice Chair Cheryl Dutton reported the organization's long-vacant low income seat has been filled for the first time in nearly 30 years.