The Bromfield House Committee is soliciting ideas from residents on what to do with the Bromfield House property at 39 Mass. Ave. The house is currently used for school district offices, but those offices will relocate to the new elementary school when it opens later this year, and the town has no further plans for the building. The Select Board has made it clear to the committee that it will not recommend any ideas that require the town to fund rehabilitation of the house.
Bromfield House. (Photo by Tim Clark)
The committee will consider each submission using the following criteria: aesthetic impact, financial impact (including recurring), functional benefit to residents, durability and timelessness, and appropriateness of use for the location. Any ideas that do not meet all of these criteria will be discarded. Suggestions must also respect the Bromfield Trust’s guidelines. Those guidelines state that any funds generated by the sale of the house and/or the property must be used for educational purposes. Committee Chair Rich Maiore told the Press that there is also a debate between town counsel and the Bromfield Trust about whether the land, minus the house, must also be used for educational purposes, or whether it could be used for municipal purposes.
An edited list of ideas will be presented to the town in early February, and a one-month open comment period will begin Feb. 11. Following that, the committee will analyze the options, taking town comments into account, and submit a final recommendation to the Select Board. The board will review the recommendation and vote on whether to bring it to Spring Town Meeting in the form of a warrant article.
The committee’s initial charge was to present a final recommendation for the property to the Select Board by Feb. 23. But the board didn’t appoint members until early December, and Maiore told the Press more time was needed to solicit and research ideas from residents, as well as other committees and boards. “We want a smart solution that residents are confident has been thoroughly vetted and in turn are excited about for the future of the property,” said Maiore.
There are three ways to submit ideas: via a form at https://bit.ly/2KwewAP, via email (rdmaiore@gmail.com), or via phone (978-790-6225). The link to the form should soon be available on the town website as well. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 27.
