In the News

Fontaine Brothers Named General Contractor for 31 Elm Street / Court Square Project

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan and Director of Capital Asset Construction Peter Garvey joined with Congressman Richard E. Neal, State Senator Adam Gomez, local business owner Peter Picknelly, Michael O’Brien of WinnDevelopment, MGM Resorts International Northeast Regional President and COO Chris Kelley, President of the Pioneer Valley Building Trades Council Colton Andrews, Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA) Executive Director Chris Moskal and SRA Board Members Chair Armando Feliciano, Fiore Grassetti, and Dot Lortie, and representatives from Labor and other officials to announcement that Fontaine Brothers have been named the general contractor for the 31 Elm Street / Court Square project.

Fontaine Brothers of Springfield have previously worked on numerous local projects including MGM Springfield, South End Community Center, Pope Francis High School, MassMutual Center, and the new DeBerry/Homer elementary school, just to name a few. 

Mayor Sarno states, “I want to congratulate Dave Fontaine Sr. and Dave Fontaine Jr. on having their company selected as the general contractor for this major and historic economic revitalization project in the heart of our downtown.  They have done tremendous work on projects throughout the city and we are looking forward to working with them again to get this long awaited project across the goal line.  Special thanks to everyone involved, especially my city team with CDO Tim Sheehan, Capital Asset Construction Peter Garvey, Chris Moskal and the Board of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, and my Chief of Staff Tom Ashe.  Only through our collaborative efforts with all of our public and private partners were we able to get this project off the ground.  From Congressman Neal working on securing the much-need tax credits, to the Baker-Polito Administration, our local state delegation, City Council, and our private partners such as MassMutual, MGM Springfield, Peter Picknelly – whose late father worked so hard to try and rehab this property in the past.  Where the nay-sayers said this project would never happen, I say much like what we did with our beautiful Union Station, ‘Yes we can and yes we did’.”

MGM Resorts Northeast Group President and COO Chris Kelley stated, “MGM Springfield is proud to contribute $16 million to help bring this iconic and transformative residential development project to downtown Springfield. Since day one, we have focused on creating positive impacts within our community well beyond our own footprint through additional economic development, new construction jobs, and other revitalization efforts.  This is a powerful example of that commitment. We worked closely with Fontaine Brothers during the construction of our resort casino and we are pleased to see this outstanding local company selected as general contractor to move this project from concept to reality.”

Peter Picknelly stated, “It’s happening.  Two years from now, we will be cutting the ribbon.”

The $50 million project is expected to employ 100-150 union jobs that will help build the mix-use property.  The plans include having retail/restaurant space on the first floor and market-rate and workforce apartment units on the upper floors. 

Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. 

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Page last updated:  Tuesday, March 1, 2022 01:32 pm