Local Officials Want Control Of Westborough State Hospital Site
Local and state officials have discussed transferring control of the roughly 800-acre former Westborough State Hospital site from state to local authorities, according to Jim Robbins, Westborough's town planner.
Since the beginning of the year, the state Division of Capital Asset and Management (DCAM) along with a myriad of government agencies have been studying potential reuse options for the site.
Most of that land is open, undeveloped space, and local officials want to keep it that way. A small portion of the site includes athletic fields and frontage to Lake Chauncy, which Robbins said officials in town are also very interested in keeping intact.
Another part of the land includes former state hospital buildings, some of which are on the National Register of Historic Places.
To maintain control of the athletic field and open space, local and state officials are discussing the possibility of the town acquiring control of the land in some way.
Robbins said if any of the buildings on the site are sold at any point, local officials would likely be willing to split sale revenues between the town and the state.
No Decision Yet
Robbins said state and local officials spoke about the town acquiring the land last week and state officials requested time to mull the proposal.
State officials confirmed that there have been conversations about the town somehow acquiring the land - either through a purchase or through other means - but would not discuss the issue further.
"It's just really too early in the process (to make a comment)," said Dana Harrell, acting deputy commission for real estate at DCAM.
The state has already devoted significant resources to studying reuse options for the former state hospital site. The hospital has been gradually closing for years, but officially shut down for good last year.
Since then, representatives from various state agencies that have some sort of control over parts of the land - including the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Massachusetts Historic Commission - have been studying reuse options.
Robbins said the town's main driving factor in wanting to gain control of the land is to keep the open space and athletic fields as they are. Robbins said he originally asked state officials about controlling the parts of the land the town has prioritized, but said state officials did not want to "cherry pick" the land and wanted to keep it all under either state or local control.
Robbins is open to potential development at the site, but earlier plans that called for as many as 500 housing units at the athletic fields area were not well received within town.
Members of the 15-person commission that the state created to explore reuse options said the group is basically in a holding pattern right now.
Vera Kolias, a principal planner with the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission in Worcester and member of that 15-person group, said the commission last met July 13, at which time Robbins expressed a desire to preserve the athletic fields and open space. Since then, the discussions have been between local and state officials, Kolias said.
"It sounds like there are a lot of different options of how this could be worked out," Kolias said.
Kolias expects that if the state does give up control of the property, it would likely come with some conditions. But, she pointed out that local officials still have final say on any development plans through local site plan reviews.
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