Go west? Town eyes municipal building shuffle

Putting the public works department at the former state prison, consolidating town offices into an existing building, and moving fire department headquarters to West Acton are all on the table under a new slate of land use recommendations.

These aren’t binding edicts, and officials acknowledge blind spots in their data. They just hope the town’s existing buildings don’t cave in while they’re mulling their options. 

“If we don’t do something about public works, [and] if we don’t do something about public safety, we are going to have a roof collapse or something along those lines,” Select Board Chair Mark Howell said during the board’s February 25 meeting.

Leaders will soon ask voters to fund additional studies. Some residents are bristling at work group findings and say they wish there had been more options for public input to date. 

“What neighborhoods want counts [and] should continue to count,” resident Tanya Gailus told the Select Board. 

Suggestions and criticism

Town officials have long bemoaned Acton’s crumbling public works and public safety structures. School and town brass agree the schools’ Ripley Building is failing. Leaders say Acton’s sprawl of municipal offices is also inefficient.

Officials sensed opportunity last year in a slew of open properties.

Among new suggestions from Land Use Working Group subcommittees: 

• Members said part of the former MCI-Acton property would be the best place for a new seven-acre public works campus. The town could reuse some existing buildings, and the whole project could cost $30 million to $40 million. 
• Public safety subcommittee members said officials should consider a new fire department headquarters at the existing West Acton substation, upgrade or rebuild police HQ, and consider a new or renovated fire substation in Acton Center. 
• Members suggested buying a building to house municipal offices and possibly selling the old Peabody School, Ripley, Public Works’ Keyes Road campus, municipal offices at 55 Church Street, and the Harvey Wheeler Community Center. 

A ‘Acton gem’

Working group members tapped Ripley and a field beside the municipal Bedford Street wastewater treatment plant as “strong alternatives” if a public works campus can’t be created at MCI.

The proposal has prompted pushback. “We’ve been trying to advocate for the preservation of that [field],” Agriculture Committee member Brian Cramer told colleagues at a recent meeting of town committee chairs. 

Jennifer Soalt lives near the field and told the Select Board it’s a “Acton gem” that “we have a responsibility” to protect. 

Officials are favoring a West Acton fire headquarters because call data shows responses shifting west of Route 2. “Police can sit anywhere,” working group Chair Sven Weber said, so there’s more flexibility with placing their HQ. 

Weber confirmed to The Acton Bridge that working group members have a building in mind for consolidated town offices. He wouldn’t name the location, but said “it’s centrally located.” Some departments would remain in the historic Town House.

Select Board member Mary Hartman, who also serves on the working group, said “we haven’t forgotten” the need for public input. 

Officials plan to ask Town Meeting voters for “municipal facilities planning” funding that would help determine whether working group recommendations are feasible. 

While suggestions draw new attention, Select Board and working group member Paul Boehm called this the most exciting and complex town government project he’s been part of.

“It’s going to be an interesting ride,” he told The Bridge.