Highly anticipated New North Citizens’ Council building project in Springfield collapses
SPRINGFIELD — A North End lot remains vacant three years after community leaders and elected officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the much-anticipated Barbara Rivera Community Center.
The project, designed to combine all the services provided by the New North Citizens' Council in the heart of the neighborhood, was billed as a transformative prospect for the Latino community. It was to include health, housing, substance abuse counseling and childcare services for the poor and homeless, a gymnasium and spaces for community gatherings.
With no signs of life for the $20 million project, the city last week revoked $2.67 million in promised American Rescue Plan Act money meant to support construction of the center.
An artist's rendering from 2022 of the Barbara Rivera Community Center planned for Chestnut and Prospect streets in the North End of Springfield. (File illustration)
Two months ago, a letter from Springfield's top economic development official warned the council's now-suspended executive director, Maria Ligus, that time was running out and the agency would not get further extensions without providing more information.
The city demanded a renewed outline of funding sources, an accurate budget for construction and an updated "sources and uses" statement.
"If the previously requested information is not provided by Oct. 31, 2025," the funding will be rescinded," Timothy Sheehan wrote, adding that Ligus had bumped the anticipated costs from $15 million to $20 million.
Although Sheehan said Ligus promised to provide the information, it never came. She was suspended with pay by a majority vote of the board of directors after an emergency meeting Oct. 22. At that same meeting, the board voted to commission a forensic audit of the agency's books.
In this file photo, Barbara Rivera, executive director of the New North Citizens' Council looks out the side door of her office as she surveys the neighborhood in April 2003. She died in 2005. (The Republican)
Getting a picture of the apparent collapse of the community center project has been difficult.
Employees, the board's president and the board's attorney have declined or not responded to requests for an explanation of where the project stands.
It is unclear when the project began to unravel and what happened with pledged funding.
Carmen Santana, treasurer of the board of directors, said that when she and interim board President Gladys Oyola met with Ligus prior to her suspension, she asked specifically about the Rivera center.
"She said there was no money," Santana told The Republican.
In a memo to her staff before her suspension, Ligus wrote that the council may need to "rethink" construction of the Rivera Center, as she was still awaiting firm commitments from at least one lender.
Council board members had expressed concerns about potential financial mismanagement and high travel expenses by Ligus and her deputy director. Some board members noted an evasiveness that Ligus reportedly displayed at meetings, when questioned by the board about the agency's finances.
Ligus often said such information was on a "need to know" basis, board members said in previous interviews.
In this file photo, Maria Ligus, executive director of the New North Citizen's Council, shows architectural renderings of the Barbara Rivera Community Center in 2022. At the time, the $15 million project was reported to be nearing construction. Ligus later estimated the project would cost $20 million. She is now on paid leave as the agency's board pursues a forensic audit of its finances. (The Republican / file photo)
Oyola, in a previous interview, said that when she took the helm of the board this year, Ligus ignored many requests for financial records from her.
"I consider that a refusal," she said.
Sources of funding
Based on news stories and internal documents, The Republican was able to assemble a partial picture of the money pledged for the new building at the corner of Chestnut and Prospect street — the former site of a school.
The city pledged the ARPA money, the MassMutual Foundation offered a $1.5 million gift to go toward the construction of the building and another grant from a private foundation, awarded through the Klarman Foundation, was to provide $1 million, to be paid in $500,000 installments.
"It was among the biggest ARPA awards the city has ever granted," Sheehan said of the city's share.
A MassMutual spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, a resident of the North End neighborhood, was among the legislators who helped pass a bill in 2021 that included a $2 million bond for programming at the Barbara Rivera Community Center.
In addition, New North hosted a 50th anniversary gala in 2023 to celebrate its founding. Elected officials, heads of nonprofits, employees, board members and corporate donors purchased tables and made donations ranging from $400 to $10,000.
A sponsorship registration form shows the council offered corporate sponsorships ranging from $25,000 as a platinum sponsor, $10,000 for gold sponsors, $5,000 for silver sponsors and $3,000 for bronze sponsors. Tables of 10 cost $950 and "patron" tickets went for $100.
The agency also solicited payments for ad space in the gala's program book, ranging from $200 to $1,000.
An internal spreadsheet obtained by The Republican does not provide a grand total of money raised. Proceeds of the gala were intended to go, in part, to the Rivera center.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal and other officials pose for the ceremonial groundbreaking at the planned site of the Barbara Rivera Community Center on Chestnut Street on June 13, 2022. At the time, the $15 million project was expected to be completed by fall 2023. Construction never started. (The Republican / file photo)
Developer 'still here'
A separate building on the same project site was intended to be privately financed by Liberty Health Systems Inc. for $8 million. Liberty Health Systems, headquartered at 95 Frank B. Murray St. and owned by Carmino Bonavita, focuses on business development, real estate construction and the development of medical offices.
Bonavita told The Republican he hasn't heard anything from New North leaders in about 18 months.
"It's too bad, too, because it would be a great resource for the community," said Bonavita. "But we're still here if they need us."
Ligus has declined to comment or not responded to requests for comment for several stories on unrest at the New North Citizens' Council since July, when a veteran employee and her assistant were abruptly fired.
Those employees were Maria Perez, also a Springfield city councilor who was unsuccessfully challenged in Tuesday's election by former New North employee and board member Joesiah Gonzalez, as well as Perez's former housing assistant, Ivelisse Gonzalez.
At the time of the groundbreaking, Perez believed the new center would help transform the North End.
"Today we are witness to what hard work can accomplish. It is an example of what happens when a whole community pulls together for the common goal of making a dream a reality," Perez said at the time in 2023.
This empty lot, at Chestnut and Prospect streets, was to be the home of the Barbara Rivera Community Center, a planned project of the New North Citizens' Council. The venture appears to be dead. (Larry Parnass / The Republican)Staff
Ivelisse Gonzalez lives just a few streets away from the proposed site and was dismayed to hear the project is stalled.
"The center would have brought all the New North services to the community as a one-stop shop. Right now, the services are scattered all over the city," she said.
Ivelisse Gonzalez said she frequently drives by the still-empty lot and finds it disturbing.
"It's so sad. It's all overgrown with bushes and weeds. They don't even take care of the property," she said.
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
