SPRINGFIELD — The obituary for a century-old funeral home has been written, after the City Council agreed to allow the Sampson family to close one of its locations and turn it into a car wash.
The controversial proposal to sell the Liberty Street Funeral Home to ModWash, a company that has more than 90 sites across the country, drew dozens of Hungry Hill residents who protested the plan, saying traffic that a car wash would add to a congested and crash-prone area that is worsened by the complicated Armory Street rotary.
But John Sampson, owner of the business that began on Bridge Street around 1878, said keeping the Liberty Street Funeral Home simply doesn’t make sense to his company, which is one of the oldest in the city that has continually been run by the same family.
“It is 1% of our business. It is not cost-effective to keep it,” he said, adding he has resisted recommendations to sell for years. “People don’t go there, because it is tiny.”
While the inside of the building is beautiful, there is limited parking. It harkens back to the days when Hungry Hill was a neighborhood full of blue-collar workers who walked to the building for wakes, he said.
Now, most people book funeral services at the Chapel of the Acres on Tinkham Road, which is run by the fifth and sixth generations of the Sampson family. That building, constructed by Sampson’s father, has parking for at least 250 and is large enough to comfortably handle several services at the same time, without having mourners spill outside, which happens at the Liberty Street location.
During Monday’s City Council meeting, Mary Ellen Russell O’Brien said the Hungry Hill Neighborhood Council is opposed to the project, and that there already are huge traffic problems on Liberty Street created by businesses, two nearby schools and the rotary.
“This is not an ideal location for a car wash,” said O’Brien, a neighborhood council member. “This is the least appropriate neighborhood to put a car wash.”
During a meeting with neighbors, developers said they have to serve nearly 400 cars in the 12 hours that it will be open every day to make the business profitable. That means 800 additional cars coming and going daily, she said.
But owners of ModWash said later they anticipate 250 cars a day at least when the car wash first opens.
To build a car wash, the developers needed a zoning variance and a special permit; part of the lot is residential, not zoned for a car wash.
Antonio Dos Santos, the lawyer representing the Sampson family, argued that the property at 710 Liberty is surrounded on all sides by businesses, including a gas station, an auto glass firm, a Dunkin’ and two fast food restaurants.
“I believe the zone change comes down to fairness,” he said. “This is a spot zone.”
The Planning Board and city’s Economic Development Department endorsed the change, saying it fit with the existing neighborhood, Dos Santos said.
After a long meeting, the City Council on Monday approved the variance and permit in 10-3 votes.
The overall plan would have the business with a curb cut on Liberty Street. Other existing entrances will be closed and landscaped over. When asked, John Harter, the traffic engineer, said one curb cut is safer than having multiple.
“We control the site, and the access to it. We really cannot control what happens outside the site,” he said in answer to a question about traffic safety.
The business, which will be the first ModWash in Massachusetts, will operate seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and employ between 12 and 15 people, with half working part-time, officials said.
“I don’t see any reason that this is not appropriate,” City Councilor Victor Davila said.
Several other councilors said they wanted to support the Sampson family, which has long supported the city and understand that it is time for the property to be used for something else.
“Times are changing, and they want to make a change, and I’m supporting that change,” Councilor Kateri Walsh said.
Sampson said the last funeral services will be held in mid-December, and developers said they hope to begin construction in February or March.
