Facilities Master Plan Options Unveiled

Should the town build a new fire station and then transform the current headquarters on Main Street into offices for the North Andover School Department?

Or would the town be better served by moving the into that space once a new fire station is constructed thus freeing up the current Senior Center behind Town Hall on Main Street for use by the Community Development office?

And just what is the best use of the old police station further up Main Street? Would it work as a new location for a new Senior Center or as School Department offices?

If you have an opinion on this game of “town department musical chairs,” the town’s Facilities Master Plan Committee would like to hear from you.

The committee, chaired by former North Andover Selectmen Rick Nardella, is holding a public hearing and work session tonight at 7 p.m. at the North Andover Senior Center, 120R Main St.

“We are really hoping this session will be well-attended because we believe the town will make a better decision on how to use its facilities the more people that are involved,” Nardella said.

Kenneth Buckland of the Cecil Group, the town's planning consultants, likened it to a board game residents are invited to play.

"The town map is going to be the board and the game pieces are the departments," he said. "People will get the chance to organize the game pieces just as a planner might to illustrate and explain their ideas."

Last year’s Town Meeting authorized the selectmen to spend $150,000 on an engineering and architectural analysis of the town’s space needs, Nardella said. His committee has been working with the Cecil Group of Boston since November.

"We’ve come up with four options and now it is time to hear what others think,” Nardella said.

Following Tuesday hearing, Nardella said his committee will decide whether to immediately make its own recommendation and present it to the Board of Selectmen or to hold further public sessions. In addition to Nardella the members of the Facilities Master Plan Committee are George Koehler, Joseph Legrasse, James Mealey, David Mermelstein and Terek Rahman.

“It is up the selectmen to decide how to proceed once we’ve made our official recommendation,” Nardella said.

• Under Option 1, the least expensive, the North Andover School Department would move out of rented space at Osgood Landing on Osgood Street and would move into the old police station on Main Street opposite the  The North Andover Senior Center would move into the Bradstreet Elementary School on Main Street in North Andover’s downtown and the Community Development Department would move from its rented space into the current North Andover Senior Center behind Town Hall on Main Street. The North Andover Fire Department would stay in its Main Street headquarters and the town’s would stay on Osgood Street.

• Under Option 2, the town would build a new fire station at a location to be determined and the School Department would move into the Fire Station’s current space on Main Street. As in Option 1, the Senior Center would move into the Bradstreet School and the Community Development Department would move into the current Senior Center.

• Option 3 also includes the construction of a new fire station but the Senior Center would move into the current Main Street Fire Station and the Community Development Department would move into the Bradstreet Elementary School.

• Under Option 4, which is the most expensive, the town would construct both a new fire station and a new senior center with the senior center to be located at the old police station site on upper Main Street Again the Community Development Department would move into the current Senior Center and the School Department would move into current fire headquarters on Main Street.

All four options include moving the from its rented space in the historic Schofield Mill on Sutton Street either into shared space with the North Andover Senior Center or with the School Department.