WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik is requesting the City Council initiate the formal process of “acquiring” the Mary Noble estate, which will become the site of a $6 million senior center.
Knapik is submitting an order of taking tonight to the council for the property on Noble Street, which is currently controlled by the Westfield Housing Authority.
Mary Noble left the property to the Housing Authority in her will to be used for the benefit of the city’s senior citizens. Noble’s will left the land for development of additional senior housing adjacent to the Ely-Dollan apartment complex, but no new senior housing has been constructed in the city for 30 years.
A probate judge ruled in March that the use of the Mary Noble estate for construction of a senior center is consistent with the intent of Noble’s will that the land be used for the benefit of senior citizens. Judge David M. Fuller of the Hampden Probate and Family Court issued his decision on March 21.
The city and the Westfield Housing Authority filed a “complaint” with the court on Oct. 17, 2012 seeking to have the court review the terms of Noble’s will to decide if the land on Noble Street could be used as the site of the proposed $6 million, two-story senior center. The city asked the judge to clarify language in Noble’s will that her property, located on Noble Street, be used for the benefit of senior citizens and if construction of a senior center satisfies that requirement.
Fuller found that “Construction of a senior center on the Property comports with the general charitable intent of Ms. Mary A. Noble.”
Fuller stated in his decision that the city and Housing Authority “may deviate from the terms of the Last Will and Testament of Mary Anngenette Noble in order to construct a senior center on the Property.”
Knapik said earlier this week that the acquisition process requires the Westfield Housing Authority to transfer the property to the city.
“Because it was left to the Westfield Housing Authority, and not the state, it is a much simpler process to transfer the land,” Knapik said. “The city has been advised by the Law Department not to proceed with the senior center project until the ownership of the land is secured by the city.”
Council on Aging Executive Director Tina Gorman said the senior center building committee, which met yesterday, reviewed the space needs identified for the building design.
The preliminary design calls for construction of a new 20,000-square-foot, two-story building, complying with Americans with Disabilities Act access requirements, and is being proposed because of the limited area of the property and the need to provide adequate parking.
The city hired Diversified Project Management Inc., of Newton, to serve as the Owner Project Manager (OPM). The OPM is selected earlier in the design process to assist the city in selecting a design architect, and eventually a building contractor. The city selected a proposal submitted by two firms working in collaboration. Dietz & Company Architects of Springfield is teaming up with Courtstreet Architects of Newton, which has designed several senior centers constructed recently in the state.
