As Walgreens closes hundreds of stores across the United States, one community in western Massachusetts is hoping to take advantage and solve a long-running problem that’s left its police department in an odd position.
When a local pharmacy closes, there usually aren’t that many positives. Patients needing their prescriptions filled scramble to find new pharmacists, it’s one less location supplying flu shots, and there’s also the displaced staff.
However, West Springfield may have found a silver lining.
Earlier this year, news broke that the downtown Walgreens at 99 Westfield Street would be closing. A banner on the pharmacy chain's website site says the location will "permanently close on March 20, 2025." This, after the company announced plans in 2024 to cull 1,200 locations over the next three years.
It’s not the only pharmacy in the Hampden County community of 28,000, but it is in the heart one of the busiest slices of West Side.
It’s also conveniently right next to the municipal office building – a multi-story complex housing town hall, numerous department offices, and for years, a police department that officials say has far outgrown the location.
That includes Mayor Will Reichelt.
“Back in the 70s, when we acquired this building, the community now is vastly different from it was back in the 70s, and our police force is significantly larger as well,” Reichelt said Tuesday night, joined by Police Chief Jay Gearing during a town council meeting carried by West Side Media.
On the agenda was a $2 million free cash appropriation intended for the purchase of 99 Westfield St. Reichelt said following the work of a police station siting committee and the demise of plan to move the station to a DPW yard, the purchase appeared to be a no-brainer.
“It is closing - they did reach out to us and they are willing to sell it to us, pending funding,” he told councilors. “It makes perfect sense – it's right behind us, it expands the municipal facilities we already have here, downtown. Keeping both the police station downtown and expanding our parking and allowing for more uses surrounding that makes sense for many reasons.”
For context: the municipal building has been in use since around 1970, back when West Springfield opted to tear down its old town hall and repurpose a former Agway complex, according to the West Springfield: Our Story history project.
The department’s since grown to about 80 full-time officers and 30 part-timers, and as Chief Jay Gearing explained Tuesday – it’s led to a host of logistical issues.
He referred to the space as “dilapidated” and “in disrepair” – something he told councilors he’d be happy to show anyone questioning the need for a new station.
“If you receive any pushback or need any assistance from me, I'd be happy to hold an open house,” Gearing said. “Our current station - the locker rooms are in disrepair, as I mentioned, my Traffic Bureau shares the Records Room. We've outgrown the Traffic Bureau office. The ladies share their locker room with a supply closet, and I could go on and on.”
Several councilors attested to the building’s condition, including District 2 Councilor Michael LaFlamme, who toured the structure earlier in the day with District 4 Councilor Frederick Connor, and noted everything from the locker rooms to the shooting range is in need of an upgrade. LaFlamme says a new station would effectively be a blank canvas.
Councilor At-Large Brian Griffin, who sat on the siting committee, praised the work of his colleagues who vetted multiple parcels beforehand. He implored his colleagues to approve the appropriation.
“This has been one of the major concerns of mine for many, many years, and, to you, who have lived through this, there is a light to the end of the tunnel here,” he said. “And I believe the council, in its infinite wisdom, will choose to move forward that on it tonight.”
The council unanimously approved the appropriation.
Speaking with WAMC, Reichelt says the $2 million transaction will likely be settled over the span of the next month.
In terms of next steps, he told the council the city will likely use money set aside in the capital budget to hire a designer to review the building already on the property and render what a new building on the lot might look like.
