HEATH — The Selectboard is going back to the drawing board in the process of renaming the former school turned municipal offices, after receiving roughly 30 emails from residents denouncing the board’s decision to call it the “Heath Community Center.”

After soliciting suggestions for names and reviewing a list of proposals, the board chose Heath Community Center as the new name for the 18 Jacobs Road building during a discussion on Nov. 29. However, the decision prompted many residents to urge the board to reconsider, with emails ranging in tone from accusatory to explanatory.

The former elementary school is nearly a 10-minute drive from Heath’s historic town center that includes, among other buildings, Sawyer Hall, Heath Union Church and Community Hall, which recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. Many residents who wrote to the Selectboard were concerned that having the word “center” in the name would confuse people into thinking the municipal building is part of the town center. Others were concerned that with the word “community” in the name, people may confuse the building with Community Hall.

Heath Elementary School, built in 1995, was closed in June 2017 because declining enrollment made the school unsustainable; there were only 32 students in the final year, but the cost to operate the school was more than $1 million. In 2019, the town decided to keep the building for municipal offices instead of selling it for $250,000 to a cannabis company.

Residents have not only expressed anger over the literal naming of the 18 Jacobs Road building, but also over disinvestment in the town’s more historic buildings while more town amenities — including the library and Senior Center — are moved to 18 Jacobs Road. Talk of winterizing Community Hall and the lack of funds to update Sawyer Hall to keep it Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant has left some residents questioning the Selectboard’s intentions.

In his email, resident Bob Viarengo called the renaming decision “tone deaf and disrespectful.” Sam Michel echoed this idea, arguing that the Selectboard is attempting to “dismantle” the town center and calling the board’s decision “a staggering, underhanded, bullying act of extreme vanity and hubris.”

The Selectboard responded to these emails with a statement on Dec. 13.

“One of the often-stated accusations was that the Selectboard used the renaming of the building as a way to attack, anger and hurt people, and a way to divide our community,” the Selectboard’s statement reads. “This was not the intention of the board. We are sorry that people took it as such.”

Residents accused the Selectboard of ignoring the town’s history. Resident Sheila Litchfield wrote in her email that the board “attempts to deny Heath’s historic past.”

“This name was not meant to confuse or replace anything within our historic Heath Center,” the Selectboard responded in its statement. “We recognize that there are many people who see our historic center as ‘The Heath Center’ and we see the value of each of our town-owned buildings.”

Still some are upset that Heath still owns the former school at all. Noy Holland wrote in her email to the board that 18 Jacobs Road is “a property that townspeople neither want nor need.”

One of the suggestions, proposed by resident Nina Marshall, is to “call (the building) what it is — a municipal building that houses the town’s offices and administrative functions.” Many residents who submitted emails are in favor of the name “Heath Municipal Building.”

“As the Selectboard, you have considerable power over town facilities,” Jean Gran wrote in her email to the board. “With that power also comes responsibility to consider and maintain the well-being of the whole community. Names matter.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com

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