Posted by The Republican Newsroom January 26, 2008 10:19AM
By KEN ROSS kross@repub.com HOLYOKE - The city has agreed to accept a $277,200 federal grant to build an adult learning center in a bus station slated to be built later this year. "It's a great project," Jeffrey P. Hayden, vice president of business and community services at Holyoke Community College, said Tuesday. The City Council voted to accept the grant for an adult education center run by the college in the proposed intermodal bus station located in the city's old fire department headquarters at 206 Maple St. The college also received a similar $947,000 federal grant for the same project.
Several city councilors endorsed the project Tuesday. "I'm very much in favor of this project," At Large City Councilor Kevin A. Jourdain said. "It's going to be great for the community."
Classes will be offered on the third and fourth floors of the building, Hayden said. He added classes should be offered in the 12,800-square-foot space day and night by the spring of 2009. "It (the facility) gives us the opportunity to show people what the college is all about," Hayden said. Holyoke Intermodal Facility, LLC, is the lead developer for the project, but the driving force behind the project is Peter Pan Bus Lines. And one of the benefits of the facility, Hayden noted, is that the privately owned bus line which serves large cities such as Boston and New York will stop at the downtown Holyoke location.
An architect is currently creating plans for the building, according to city Planning Director Kathleen G. Anderson. Construction is then expected to begin in late April or early May, Hayden said. Based on such a timetable, the facility would be completed by the end of this year or early next year. Along with the bus station and adult education center, the facility will feature child-care space, food booths and other vendors. Holyoke Community College's education facility will bring five new, full-time jobs to the city, according to a tax break proposal approved by the City Council in September. Head Start would provide child care and create four, full-time jobs. An additional 10, full-time jobs will also be created by the facility. They include two facility management and security jobs, two Pioneer Valley Transportation Authority jobs and six jobs at a Dunkin Donuts.
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