Construction work on a new child and family center is underway in Springfield, Massachusetts. The organization behind the work says it’s returning to the site years after a tornado damaged its former facility, which had to be torn down.
For the past decade, the lot behind 947 Main Street has been relatively empty — a combination of gravel and paved parking spaces, with a few trees between the surrounding side streets.
Such was the case after a tornado swept through the Pioneer Valley in 2011, leaving much of the city’s South End damaged, including the lot where an early childhood care facility run by Square One once stood.
Today, though – the organization is returning to the address, building on the site it once called home with plans to offer expanded services, according to President and CEO Dawn DiStefano.
“This is a new day on old lands - it's a new day for Square One to be in a position where we can rebuild our home like so many have had to do, but also reclaim the attention that children and families need,” she told reporters Monday.
The organization’s leadership was joined by dozens of staffers and local leaders for the groundbreaking on June 17.
Tracing its history to 1883, at one point known as the Springfield Day Nursery, Square One describes itself as a private, non-profit that provides early education and care services for some 500 children in the Greater Springfield area.
Support services and programs are also offered to some 1,500 families, according to the organization.
At the podium, officials like DiStefano recounted how during the fallout of the tornado, Square One also ran into financial hardships, leaving the organization unable to immediately rebuild the South End site, among other hurdles.
“In 2012, as if a tornado wasn't enough, our agency lost another building to a gas explosion, and in 2020, we would experience a worldwide pandemic with our community,” DiStefano said. “Don't worry though, we bought really good builders risk insurance. Thank you to USI - when they asked if I wanted flood and earthquake, I said ‘Are you kidding? It's Square One. Yes, we want all of it.’”
With fences up, heavy machinery already on-site and excavation work well-underway, DiStefano says the plan is to have the 26,000-square-foot facility up and open sometime in 2025.
Getting to this point has been costly. Project expenses reached as high as $15.5 million.
Funding for the work included at least $4 million in tax credits, $4 million in state and local funding, and another $3 million in public and private grants.
Also a boost – a million dollar donation made by Balise Auto that was announced at the groundbreaking. Alexandra Balise presented the gift.
“The South End has been a big part of our history, as a family and as a business, and we are so excited that Square One is able to come back to this site in a brand new building to serve the children and families of Springfield,” Balise said. “This is great news for the City of Springfield. It's great news for the children, the parents and for employers. So today, I am excited to announce that Balise has committed $1 million to - Square One.’”
Square One says with the new center, it plans to run four early learning classrooms, in addition to workforce development programming for local youth and families, and “trauma-sensitive therapeutic intervention,” among other offerings.
It estimates the center will allow for supporting some 80 children between ages 2-6.
Among the officials celebrating the groundbreaking was one of the first children to come out of Square One’s King Street facility over 30 years ago – now-State Senator Adam Gomez.
Gomez told reporters that seeing the construction site is like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
“I'm just so happy and proud to be a part of this," he said during the ceremony. "And all of you that do the really the yeoman's work, and all of you guys are just really superheroes in a lot of these young people's lives.”
Gomez, as well as other members of the western Massachusetts delegation, including Representative Carlos Gonzalez, were credited with getting a $2 million earmark for Square One through the legislature.
