A dozen or so participants, including local developers, neighbors, and a historian, attended a site walk on April 8 of two non-adjacent properties Acton is selling: 3 and 13 School St. Number 3 School St., built in 1927, has served as a fire station until 1961, civil defense building, and arborist headquarters.
Three School Street is presently used for storage. It comprises approximately 2628 square feet, including an unfinished basement. Number 13 is a municipal parking lot. The 0.34 acre property was taken for non-payment of taxes in 1990. Between the two properties is another one, at 9 School St., owned by Boat Meadow Property Management LLC since April, 2024, according to the Town database.
The Town has put out a request for proposals (RFP) for creative projects that preferably include commercial and residential uses, improve accessibility to the train station, and include at least ten parking spaces available to the public. The Town will evaluate proposals based on how well the project meets those and many more criteria listed in the RFP. Applications are due on April 18, 2025.
Assistant Town Manager Thom Begin and Facilities Director Andrea Ristine led walk participants through the 3 School St. building. The ground level is a cement-floored open garage space, dotted with piles of firefighters’ boots, helmets, and hoses as well as an old metal rescue litter. The second floor offices are lined with radios and other communication equipment from the 1990s and earlier; camping equipment; canvas stretchers; photographs; and memorabilia such as a ribbon from the 1992 Maynard Christmas Parade and a 1996 article from the Acton Citizen newspaper posted on an upturned bulletin board.
At Town Meeting in 2024, voters supported an update to the South Acton Village District “to incentivize commercial uses and village scale development to achieve the vision established through the South Acton Vision and Action Plan.” (2024 Town Warrant).
Franny Osman is the Editor-in-Chief and occasional writer for the Acton Exchange.