Gym dandy? Indoor sports gain support in MCI reuse talks
“The momentum is really building,” Select Board member Paul Boehm told The Bridge.
Resident Jack Perkins envisions a new set of walls at MCI-Acton once the prison fortifications are gone.
He’s talked about bringing a rock climbing gym to town — and thinks a shuttered prison gymnasium may be just the place to put it. “[B] eing in an old prison would be a huge draw to customers,” Perkins told The Acton Bridge.
Although they might not share Perkins’ rock wall aspirations, a growing crowd is calling for indoor recreation space at MCI-Acton.
“The momentum is really building,” Select Board member Paul Boehm told The Bridge.
Select Board Chair Wendy Rovelli said it wouldn’t be a town-run facility like the Hunt Recreation Center or the Beede Swim & Fitness Center, but officials are open to private projects like Bedford’s Edge Sports Center.
Some see a multisport hub as a potentially unifying option among more controversial prospects.
“Acton families know how difficult it can be to find adequate space for practices, games, and training,” especially in winter, resident James Judge said.
Judge launched one of several letter-writing campaigns to support indoor recreation. He said a multisport hub could accommodate year-round soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, basketball, or flag football. It could also host camps, clinics, and events.
Recreation Commission member Amalia Jorns told colleagues that she’s been driving 25 minutes each way to bring her daughter to batting practice. “It would be great to have some batting cages [and] another basketball court or two,” she said last month.
Pickleball player Irl Smith said indoor courts at the former prison “would delight the community.” And Perkins said he and fellow Acton climbers now trek to MetroRock in Littleton. A similar business here could give them a climbing facility closer to home.
Boehm brought prison gym possibilities to the Recreation Commission in September. He left with that panel’s support.
“That gymnasium would be very, very valuable, even if it’s torn down and reconfigured,” he said.
The prison property and its surrounding area include 54 developable acres.
Consultant plans call for outdoor recreation space alongside housing, retail, and a new town public works campus. Rovelli and Boehm say developers have shown interest in indoor recreation.
Amenity gaps
West Acton has some indoor sports facilities, including The Thoreau Club and Valley Sports Arenas, but none have indoor turf. A 2025 MCI-Acton vision plan found additional gaps in local amenities, including basketball courts.
The state owns most of the prison property and plans eventually to hand it to developers. The town can use zoning to influence what gets built.
Judge’s letter-writing blitz is asking officials to allow and encourage a privately funded recreation project via their prison reuse planning. Others have similar messages.
Town Meeting voters would have to approve prison rezoning. The discussion could attract affordable housing advocates and people who “are concerned about changes in town character,” said MCI Acton Master Plan Committee member Burton Flint.
People with school-age kids and 9-to-5 jobs might not currently be part of the conversation, but they’d “be really interested in a sports facility,” Flint told colleagues recently.
Rovelli warned that the town would have to “be able to support” extra traffic.
At an October 15 meeting, Master Plan Committee member Peter Lowitt sought to manage redevelopment expectations. “They may not put the first shovel in the ground until 2029 or 2030 — other than digging for asbestos and whatever hidden gems we have under the ground,” he said.
Major MCI meetings continue in the coming weeks with a scheduled joint Planning Board, Select Board, and Master Plan Committee session on November 10.
Although officials are eyeing a May Town Meeting vote, Town Manager Kerry Lafleur said it’s a “very aggressive” schedule, and suggested the timeline could change.
Acton is in for a winter of meetings to hash out reuse plans. Officials say they’re trying to get residents involved — but it’s no easy task.
“If somebody can make zoning exciting and passionate, that person will be forever hailed as a god to every planner in the world,” Town Planner Elizabeth Hughes told the Master Plan Committee.
