MELROSE — Abutters urged the School Committee this week to take its time in releasing oversight of the Beebe School on West Foster Street as the city eyes the property as a new police headquarters.

The Beebe has not been a Melrose school for years and is currently the temporary home of the Melrose Public Library. Some neighbors told the school board Tuesday night that a detailed vetting of the district’s needs should be completed before either the Beebe or the Ripley School on Lebanon Street is used for something other than an educational purpose.

Committee members decided to put off a vote at least until their next meeting.

In September, city officials announced the Beebe was being eyed as the eventual new home of the Melrose Police Department after they were faced with many design obstacles at the originally proposed Ripley location. Neighbors of the Beebe said they were caught off guard. One resident said this week the decision to change locations of a new police headquarters caused “pain, worry and concern.” Others criticized leaders for not including neighbors in any discussions leading up to the announcement the Beebe was being proposed for a new police station.

According to information given to School Committee members by City Planner Denise Gaffey and Amy Lindquist of the City Solicitor’s office, the Beebe Elementary School was built in 1956 on land granted to the city in 1955. The building was used as an elementary school until it was closed in 2004 in response to fiscal challenges and the ability to consolidate elementary school operations in the five remaining elementary schools. The School Committee then leased the building as an education facility to different groups, including the most recent occupant, the SEEM Collaborative. SEEM operated a special education program in the Beebe School until their lease expired in June of 2021 and they vacated the building.

In 2021, the City hired an architectural firm to assess the condition of the Beebe school building and outline options for re-occupying the building as an elementary school. The building had last been assessed in 1997 as part of the city-wide School Facilities Master Plan process and was then determined to be in adequate condition but lacking in core spaces and not handicap accessible. In the 2021 study, significant wear and tear was noted in the building. Building systems were past their useful life, the building envelope required substantial upgrades and replacements, the building lacked adherence to accessibly and life safety codes and numerous other deficiencies and non-compliant building elements were identified. 

The results of this assessment were documented in the Beebe Elementary School Feasibility Study issued in December 2021 and available at the following link: https://www.cityofmelrose.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif3451/f/pages/beebe_study_report_12_7_digital.pdf 

The Feasibility Study demonstrated that significant funds would be needed to renovate the building and bring it up code, ranging from $6,000,000.00 for limited code upgrades, $10,600,000.00 to include necessary upgrades to obsolete building systems, deteriorated building envelope elements and site work, and $14,500,000.00 for a comprehensive building renovation. The study was presented to the School Committee in December 2021 and there was general agreement that the city did not have the funds to make the necessary investments in the building for it to return to use as an elementary school. On April 12, 2022 the School Committee voted to allow the City of Melrose to use the Beebe School as a temporary library space during the Library Renovation Project. This use was allowed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, sec. 71 as a community use. Since that time, portions of the building have served an important function as a temporary space to store library books and serve library patrons during the renovations to the Melrose Public Library building. The building has functioned adequately for this temporary use with limited spaces that are open to the public, but when the library vacates the space in early 2025, the building will be fully vacant again. According to discussions with the Building Commissioner, the city cannot lease the building again without correcting all of the life safety and building code deficiencies, so the building will remain vacant for the foreseeable future. 

Current Ripley lease 

The information given to the School Committee continues, “The Melrose Public Schools currently have a Rental Agreement in place with SEEM Collaborative for the lease of the Ripley School for the period of August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2026. There is no right of early termination language in this Agreement. If either party wishes not to renew the contract, they must provide 270 days notice. The current rental fee is $116,204 for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. 7.A.4.a Packet Pg. 93 Attachment: Memo to SC on Beebe and Ripley 11.15.24 (12176 : Update on Beebe and Ripley Schools (30 minutes)) Next Steps The School Committee has discussed the Ripley and/or the Beebe School buildings on at least 4 occasions over the past two years in Executive Session. The purposes of these discussions was the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of the properties as the Chair declared that an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the negotiation position of the School Committee. As the purpose of the Executive Session still exists, the Committee needs to be mindful not to discuss in open session the matters that were discussed in Executive Session. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 40 § 15A, before these properties can be used for another municipal purpose, the School Committee will first need to take a vote, that the buildings are no longer needed for an educational purpose. If this vote is taken in the affirmative by a simple majority of the Committee, the School Committee will then provide notice to the City Council that the school land and buildings in question are no longer needed for educational purposes.”

Mayor Jen Grigoraitis’ office announced the changes to the proposed police headquarters siting in September.

“While initial planning by the city indicated the Ripley School site on Lebanon Street as the likely location of a new MPD headquarters, additional evaluation and consideration led city officials to shift focus to the Beebe School site. This decision was driven primarily by three factors: 

1. The Beebe School site is located at the geographic heart of Melrose and only two blocks from the current MPD headquarters. This location will help to ensure adequate emergency response times, enable residents to access the station by public transit or as a pedestrian, and remain a central community hub and resource.
2. Engineering evaluations indicated that construction at the Ripley School site would require the extensive and costly use of rock blasting to remove ledge, at an estimated minimum cost of $1.5 million. Project architects believe, based on their current understanding of the site, that little or no blasting will be necessary to build on the site of the Beebe School, reducing overall project costs and mitigating the potential impact on neighbors.
3. The Beebe School, currently in use as a temporary location for the Melrose Public Library, will be vacant by early 2025 and can be used as a site for MPD headquarters without disruption or interruption for any user groups, including the current tenants of the Ripley School, the SEEM Collaborative (a special education collaborative school serving Melrose and area students with a lease through late 2026).” 

“Melrose voters placed their trust in this project, the largest public works undertaking in the City’s history, and in return, we must do everything possible to deliver this series of projects on time and on budget,” said Grigoraitis. “Utilizing the Beebe School site for our new police headquarters will help us save $1.5 million or more by avoiding the extensive blasting that would be necessary to build on the Ripley School site. Critically, this decision also keeps the project on time by ensuring that the project can continue apace without awaiting the conclusion of the SEEM Collaborative’s lease on the Ripley School in 2026.” 

“Keeping the Melrose Police on West Foster Street ensures that police headquarters remains accessible to community members like Milano Center users and senior housing residents,” said Councilor Robb Stewart, who represents the neighborhood as the Ward 3 City Council member. “Using the old Beebe School site for the new police headquarters also resolves the uncertain future of this property, which was set to become vacant in the new year, ultimately ensuring that the City can continue to be a good neighbor to area residents.” 

“As Melrose chief of police, I’m pleased that our department’s headquarters can remain in the heart of the community, in easy reach of residents, downtown business owners, and other important constituencies,” said Melrose Police Chief Kevin Faller. “MPD is committed to being a good neighbor to the abutters of the Beebe School, and we look forward to relocating to a modern police headquarters that will meet our community’s needs and expectations now and for many years to come.” 

About the Public Safety Facilities Advisory Committee 

The PSFAC was formed in 2024 to advise the mayor’s administration on the Public Safety Facilities renovation and replacement projects approved by Melrose voters in a November 2023 debt exclusion vote. 

The Public Safety Facilities Advisory Committee is composed of the following members: 

• Denise Gaffey, Chair: City Planner and Director of the Office of Planning and Community Development (City of Melrose)
• Allan Alpert: Director of Emergency Management (City of Melrose)
• Emmanuel Andrade: Project Manager and Member of the Public Safety Building Design
Committee (Melrose resident)
• Chuck Borstel: Vice President, Commodore Builders (Melrose resident)
• Sue Cann: Member of the Cemetery Commission and former School Committee Member (Melrose resident)
• Jason Chen: Manufacturing Capacity Network Manager, Corning and Member of the
Public Safety Building Design Committee (Melrose resident) 

• Eric Christopher: Firefighter and Vice-President of Melrose Firefighters, Local 1617
(City of Melrose)
• Thomas Dalton: Communications and Events Manager (City of Melrose)
• Kevin Faller: Police Chief (City of Melrose)
• Martha Grover: Manager of Building Decarbonization, MA Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and former Sustainability Manager, City of Melrose (Melrose resident)
• Councilor Ward Hamilton: City Councilor-At-Large
• John McCarron: Firefighter and President of Melrose Firefighters, Local 1617 (City of
Melrose)
• Paul Norton: Police Lieutenant (City of Melrose)
• Jim O’Loughlin: Retired Engineer (Melrose resident)
• Elena Proakis Ellis: Director of Public Works (City of Melrose)
• Daniel Riordan: Mental Health Detective (City of Melrose)
• John White: Fire Chief (City of Melrose)
Project funding and history
On November 7, 2023, a 59% majority of Melrose voters approved a debt exclusion in the amount of $130 million to fund the renovation and replacement of Melrose’s four aging and obsolete public safety buildings.
On June 3, 2024, the Melrose City Council approved the first bond appropriation for these projects, allowing the city to borrow an initial $5.5 million to pay costs for the design and engineering of a new Melrose Highlands Fire Station and new Melrose Police Station.
A debt exclusion is a temporary increase in the tax levy that allows a City to borrow for a specific purpose. Unlike an override, which is a permanent increase in the tax levy, the additional amount for the payment of debt service is added to the levy limit for the life of the debt only. A debt exclusion ballot question can only be placed on an election ballot by a two-thirds vote of the City Council and requires the mayor’s approval.