The city
of Somerville has hired a consulting service to study the school site
and put together options for its future use. The focus of Tuesday's
meeting was to give an opportunity for Concord Square Planning and
Development to report its initial findings and hear from local
residents on their thoughts about the property and the benefits that it
can bring to Somerville in a different capacity. The charge set forth
by the city to Concord Square Planning is to balance the goals of
putting the site back into productive use, maximizing revenue for the
city, and mitigating the impact on the neighborhood. The main decision
that will have to be voted on by the Board of Aldermen is whether the
city will sell off the property for profit or if they will invest in
the facility and make it an asset to the community and its residents.
Use of the building in its current form, whether it is for city or
commercial purposes, is not an option as the facility is not up to
code. The building can not meet certain electrical standards and
seismic improvements must be made to pass current building codes. Past
tests have shown that a minimum of 5 million dollars must be put into
the Powder House building to simply get it up to code. If the city
decides to hold on to the property and open its doors for civic use,
construction will be necessary.

Concord Square Planning and
Development is in the process of interviewing real estate professionals
to obtain an understanding of the worth of the property and a potential
sale price if the City of Somerville decides to go that route. Possible
uses discussed by the consultants include residential apartments and
condominiums, office space centered around a rehabilitation center, and
a hybrid concept where a portion of the school will be retained by the
city while demolishing the remainder for construction use. Concord
Square Planning felt that with transportation and parking concerns, the
best option in terms of a sale of the property would be a high-end
apartment complex that would cater to graduate students.

This
is where the presentation quickly turned into a community discussion,
as the majority of the 50 local residents who attended the meeting
passionately advocated holding on to the property and turning the
facility into a community center of some sort. There was a general
feeling among residents, a sentiment that was echoed by Ward 7 Alderman
Bob Trane, that there is not enough public space for local children and
that there is a pressing need for a community center. Ideas put forward
by Somerville residents included both indoor and outdoor recreational
spaces for kids, classroom space for adult education, green space, and
offices for municipal use that would include a consolidation of
Somerville's recreation department. All of this would obviously come at
a cost to the city, as estimated budgets for a renovated or newly
constructed building would range from 12-20 million dollars, not to
mention the revenue that would not be created by the possible sale of
property.

Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane feels that a community
center that is properly managed could actually save money for the city
in the long run though, as the open space could help consolidate youth
and recreation programs that are being run out of offices in which the
city currently pays rent. Alderman Trane also warns that if Somerville
decided to sell the building, now would not be the time. "With the
market being so depressed, a sale at this point would not bring back
the maximum amount of revenue that the city should see from that
property." Trane also feels that now would be the best time to invest
money into a much needed community center as construction costs are as
low as they have been in years.

The wild card in this situation
is the possibility of federal stimulus money that has been applied for
by the City of Somerville for this project, among others. If the
federal government offers monetary support, Alderman Trane feels that
the door should be closed on the possible sale of the Powder House
School building. "There is a possibility that we might receive federal
stimulus money," say Trane. "If that is the case than I think this
would be a no-brainer. West Somerville needs a place to call our own."

Concord
Square Planning has gathered all the feedback from local residents and
will come back to the city with a few different options to be discussed
within the next 30 days. Updates on future meetings will be posted on
the City of Somerville's website and residents can feel free to contact
Alderman Trane at RobertTrane@aol.com.