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Springfield Design Center Project Kick-Off

February 5, 2010

We established the Greater Springfield-UMass Amherst Partnership in the fall of 2008 and have made a lot of progress. The pact aims to position the city of Springfield in the long term as a center for environmentally beneficial green industries, to boost the city’s arts and creative economy, and to expand university teaching and outreach initiatives here in Springfield.

It’s all part of our long-term goal to raise the profile of UMass Amherst within the city and at the same time to help revitalize the city of Springfield.

Today I’m excited to be here with officials from Springfield to refurbish office space that will house the new UMass design center. The design center will give UMass Amherst a face in downtown Springfield. It will be a storefront operation with two full-time staff members from UMass Amherst along with faculty members and graduate students who will participate in design projects for the revitalization of the downtown area as well as the wider Springfield community.

The center will conduct such projects as park improvements, conservation area upgrades, and urban planning to benefit the city. Here with us today are faculty members from the departments of Art, Art History & Architecture and Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning.They have been actively engaged in this exciting project and I know they are looking forward to launching their various projects in Springfield.

This center is just one part of our joint efforts. Other efforts include strengthening industrial ties between UMass Amherst and Springfield. We will create a developer’s kit that the city can offer to businesses seeking to relocate to Springfield or to site new facilities. We are also working on an agreement with Springfield Technical Community College to make space available for several years, for UMass spin-off companies.

The education component is absolutely critical to our partnership. We are working on a Springfield Scholars Program, modeled on one that will be implemented in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Students from the city who qualify will receive Pell grants and other scholarships to attend UMass Amherst. The goal is to make attending UMass Amherst affordable for Springfield’s top students.

You will very likely see many more UMass Amherst faces here in Springfield in the future, and not only at this design center. We are exploring plans to move people from various units on the Amherst campus to offices in downtown Springfield. Some of these individuals will be involved in back-office functions; others with one or another program operated by faculty on campus.

We’re enthusiastic to keep building the relationship between Springfield and UMass Amherst with these very real and worthwhile projects. I know our partnership will enrich both the city and the campus.