Hitchcock to Hampshire

Hitchcock Center For The Environment, Amherst

The Hitchcock Center, my neighbor to the north, announced today they have signed a "non-binding Memorandum of Understanding" with Hampshire College to move their environmental education operation--a mile or south to the somewhat sprawling Hampshire College campus, joining fellow non-profit, the National Yiddish Book Center, that opened operations there in 1997.

Hampshire College is the third largest landowner in Amherst behind the other two centers of higher education--UMass and Amherst College--and poorer by comparison as far as endowments go.

Since the Hitchcock Center is already tax exempt the move will have no impact on the town tax base but could result in a net gain if a private business buys their "old" building, although unlikely, as it is owned by the town of Amherst.