NORTHBOROUGH – Town Meeting will vote on a question of whether to purchase Northborough’s Old Town Hall when it meets later this month.
This article is one of 44 articles on the warrant.
It calls for raising and appropriating $10,000 for the acquisition of the property.
Specifically, voters will decide whether to exercise Northborough’s repurchase option under a 1983 conveyance.
The town sold the former Town Hall property in 1983, though it kept the right to repurchase the building in the 40th year after the sale.
At the time, Town Meeting allowed a developer to purchase the building under the condition that the building was renovated.
The original Old Town Hall structure then burned to the ground in 1985 while it was being renovated, though it was rebuilt.
According to this year’s warrant, Northborough would undertake a feasibility study before completing the repurchase of the property.
The future of the Town Hall property has come up in Board of Selectmen meetings.
Among discussions, Selectman Julianne Hirsh, who is a member of the Master Plan Implementation Committee, brought up the topic in October in the context of the committee wanting to gather information on the property.
The building has been occupied by private business tenants.
Town Administrator John Coderre said in response to Hirsh’s question that it is the town’s intention to repurchase the Town Hall.
“It’s the question of what do we do with it once we take it back?” he said, though. “Is it surplussed? Or are we going to use it for municipal purposes?”
The question of how the building would be used is the subject of a feasibility study.
In October, Coderre said Northborough was working on said study.
“Obviously, the primary thing that we’re looking at is the potential of moving Town Hall over into that location,” Coderre said. “That’s one of the primary options.”
Town Meeting will convene on April 25 at 6 p.m. at Algonquin Regional High School.
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