By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — A downtown building that was until recently home to the Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department offices is being eyed by the town as a possible future arts center. Last spring, the MGLD relocated its offices at 9-11 Albion St. to its new Mark A. Delory Facility at 480 North Ave. and informed town officials that it no longer needed the town-owned Albion Street building.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio told the Board of Selectmen this week that he, DPW Director Richard Stinson and selectmen Paul DiNocco and Patrick Glynn had recently toured the building. Maio admitted that the building needs some work to bring it into compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act standards but recommended that the town begin getting estimates on work and seek out grant funding to help spruce up the building.
Maio talked about the possibility of using a portion of the building as gallery and studio space.
“This is a fabulous opportunity for the town to have a building location in our downtown that we could use for the arts,” Maio said.
DiNocco described the building’s interior as “beautiful” and said that there are multiple grants available that the town would be eligible for as long as it can show that it is moving in the direction of using the building for arts.
Selectman Phyllis Hull wondered if the building could be better leveraged to attract business to the downtown area.
Chairman Brian Falvey said that the idea of an arts center would be for it “to be a destination for people to come to” and at the same time patronize local restaurants and other businesses.
The board designated Glynn and DiNocco to serve as a subcommittee to work with Maio toward bringing the building up to speed for future use.
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Maio predicted that the Nov. 17 Regular Town Meeting would need only one night to complete work on the 13 warrant articles. He noted that the Finance Committee had recently voted to recommend favorable action on all articles except for Article 6, which seeks legislative approval for a land swap aimed at settling a longstanding dispute between a builder and neighbors on Stark Avenue.
Maio said that he has been assured that the new Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Galvin Middle School will be fully equipped to handle Town Meeting.
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Maio said that the public will be invited to the Public Safety Building on Dec. 3 to help test the town’s new website. Maio said that he wants the new website to be more user-friendly. More details will be forthcoming.
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The board approved a request from Library Director Sharon Gilley to accept and expend $395 in gifts from various donors.
