The East Somerville Community School took a big step on the comeback trail this week: state officials approved $15 million in funds to build the school.
There is still a lot to do: the city will have to borrow at least $9 million more to finish financing the project and school doors may not open until 2013. But it is undoubtedly good news for a neighborhood that was devastated by the December 2007 fire that destroyed the school.
And as is often the case, Ward One Alderman Bill Roche has wise words on this East Somerville issue:
“This is a section of the city where people have a little less and they’ve been hit hardest by the struggling economy, and then they lose their neighborhood school to a fire,” Roche said. “It would be easy to get trapped in a cycle of hopelessness under those circumstances, but bringing back the East Somerville Community School sends the signal that no one is giving up on East Somerville. Our best days are yet to come and this school will be an important part of that.”