By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — How could some currently underutilized town properties be repurposed in ways to maximize their benefit to the community?
That was the topic of a very preliminary overview and discussion at last night’s Town Council meeting. The properties discussed included the Hurd School, the John J. McCarthy Senior Center, a parcel on Butler Avenue and the 5 Common St. office building.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio offered a very broad overview of these properties and some of their possible future uses.
Beginning with the Hurd School on Cordis Street, Maio noted that the former elementary school was built in 1899, with the auditorium added in the 1920s. The site consists of 45,548 square feet. The building itself is 22,116 square feet. After the School Department ceased using it as a school, the building was turned over to the town in 2005.
Maio noted that in recent years the building has been used as a private school (Nazareth Academy), swing space for Police during the Public Safety Building Construction and storage for the Friends of Beebe Library Book Sale.
Maio noted that the Hurd School building was the subject of some community meetings back in 2016. At the time, ideas for potential uses included housing, municipal offices, educational use, a park, museum or a recreation center.
Maio mentioned the possibility of referring the property to the newly formed Affordable Housing Trust for recommendations, including use as affordable housing with units for challenged individuals.
THE OLD Hurd School building on Cordis Street is one of the underutilized municipal properties that the town would like to see put to better use. (Mark Sardella Photo)
Moving to the John J. McCarthy Senior Center, Maio noted that it was built in 1910 as the Warren School and is now used by the town to house the Senior Center and Veteran’s Services on the first and second floors. The third floor is vacant and used for storage. The vacant fourth floor has a stage. There is approximately 6,700 square feet (about twice the area of a tennis court) of available space and a working elevator.
Maio floated several potential uses for the space, including moving Town Departments from 5 Common St., using the fourth-floor stage area as a performance space and use as a Friends of Beebe Library Book Sale storage area.
Maio estimated the cost of repurposing the unused Senior Center space at $450,000.
Next, Maio talked about the 10.72-acre Butler Avenue site that was acquired by the town in 2020 as part of an environmental settlement. Just over two acres is contaminated and would need to be capped, he noted, adding that the town’s testing of the site continues in an effort to determine the exact extent of the contamination. Following the completion of testing in the spring, there will be further plan development and wetlands delineation with DEP approval anticipated by December 2025 or possibly earlier.
Maio said that potential uses of the site could include housing through either the Affordable Housing Trust or through a 40B process.
Next, Maio discussed 5 Common St., which was purchased by the Town in 1999 for $860,000 (including 11R Lafayette St.) The Common Street building contains approximately 3,870 Square feet and has an accessibility entrance added to the rear of the building. Five Common St. is currently utilized by the Health and Treasury Departments. There is no ADA access to the second floor or basement.
Maio said that options for 5 Common Street hinge upon potential relocation of the Health and Treasury Departments. He mentioned the potential of two to four housing units as a possible future use of the property.
Town Councilors weighed in on the potential of the various properties, stressing that all ideas were very preliminary at this point.
Councilor Robert Vincent said that the town should hold more community meetings on the future u3se of the Hurd School property.
Town Councilor Edward Dombroski cautioned against being too quick to remove spaces from public use when they may be needed again by the town. He was also wary of using the unused Senior Center space for offices or storage, when the Senior Center needs space to expand its own programs. He said that all of these spaces should be looked at by each town department guided by public input.
Chairman Jonathan Chines wanted to see public forums on the potential uses of these properties conducted sooner rather than later, along with cost assessments for various uses.
