MassDevelopment has issued a $3.1 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College Assistance Corp. (STCCAC).

STCCAC developed, leases and manages the Springfield Technology Park, which is across the street from Springfield Technical Community College. The corporation is using bond proceeds to renovate 31,000 square feet of space in a building in the park that it will lease to Phoenix Public Charter Academy High School. Phoenix will serve high-risk students in grades nine through 12 who have been displaced from area public schools. PeoplesBank purchased the bond, which a MassDevelopment guarantee enhanced.

"STCCAC has done award-winning work in redeveloping the historic Springfield Technology Park," MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones said in a statement. "Developing Phoenix near the college will complement both schools’ educational missions, and we’re pleased to partner with STCCAC and PeoplesBank to fund this Gateway City project."

Springfield Technical Community College and the Technology Park are at the site of the former Springfield Armory, the primary center for manufacturing U.S. military firearms from 1777 until it closed in 1968. Part of the park is now the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, which includes world’s largest collection of historic U.S. firearms. STCCAC leases nearly 400,000 square feet of space in the park to roughly 40 companies, which employ about 800 workers.