Officials Address Delays in Opening Haas Health and Wellness Center

By Adam Swift

Two City Councillors filed motions Monday night looking for answers concerning the delay in opening the proposed Robert J. Haas Health and Wellness Center at the Greater Boston Fitness building on Charger Street.

Former Mayor Brian Arrigo announced plans for the community wellness center, named after the late mayor, in his State of the City address in March of 2022. At that time, Arrigo said the city would be using ARPA federal relief funds to help with the startup costs, and that the center could be open by late spring of 2022.

Ward 6 Councillor Richard Serino presented a motion asking that the new director of the Haas Center, former School Committee member Susan Gravellese, appear before the council for an update on the center. Councilor-at-Large Dan Rizzo’s motion requested information from the city’s administration for an update on the status of the center, as well as on how much the city has paid in lease and other costs for the building since the project got underway.

City officials said there have been delays, some due to the condition of the building, but that the wellness center should be ready to open by the end of the summer.

“As the ward councillor in that area, I am curious as to what is going on and when it will be open,” said Serino. “I know our state delegation … helped get state funding to help get this off the ground, so I’m wondering where we stand with it. I don’t want to say what’s the delay, but what’s the delay?”

Rizzo said he’s concerned because the city has been paying $30,000 a month in rent payments, on top of other costs, with the city getting no benefit.

“Here we are, we’ve been talking for a long time, how are we going to come up with the $280 million share of Revere’s payment for a new high school, in the meantime, we are paying $30,000 a month for a vacant building … for the last 16 months,” said Rizzo.

Richard Viscay, the city’s finance director, said there is no question that the project has been slow to get off the ground. He said the city has a total budget put aside of $2.1 million to open the health and wellness center.

“That was made through the funds that we got through the (federal) ARPA, the $30 million,” Viscay said. “When we set aside some money, one of the main goals of the ARPA funds was to use this one-time money to set something up that would give some kind of perpetual benefit to the city, that’s what we are trying to do. Have we been as successful as we want to be? We have certainly not.”

To date, Viscay said the city has spent $471,000 on lease payments. Counting insurance, equipment, and some staffing costs, Viscay said the city has spent approximately $700,000 of the $2.1 million it has earmarked for the project.

“We were certainly hoping to open in the spring,” Viscay said. “There were a lot of problems with that building, unbeknownst to us, that we have been working with the landlord to straighten out, whether it is the fire suppression system, mold issues, ADA compliance, a bunch of stuff.”

But Viscay said the city administration feels it is now on track to get the center open.

“There were a lot of opinions about what this health and wellness center should be, I think we have limited that focus down to be that health and wellness center for the seniors, for the youth, and for everybody else in between,” said Viscay. “We are trying to match up with the city’s Master Plan, which basically said that the city is in need of facilities and programs to support fitness and health. We are trying to tie this into the Master Plan, we are trying to use some one-time money to get it up and running.”

Viscay said it’s the city’s hope that membership fees and programming will keep the center self-supporting once it is off the ground.

Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro asked if the landlord was willing to assume some of the costs of the upgrades needed at the building.

City Solicitor Paul Capizzi said he has met with the building owner and his lawyer to ensure the owner does all the work that was agreed to per the lease.

“Part of the delay, and I hate saying this because it sounds like an excuse, is just getting construction materials.” said Capizzi. “We have to replace the floor in the men’s locker room, for example, and getting the tile and the concrete and the guys to do it, all of that is adding to what has already been a long-delayed process in this building.”