Town Council to Hold Special Meeting on Old Middle School Jan. 14

By Adam Swift

The town council scheduled a special meeting next Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Harvey Hearing Room at Town Hall to discuss the future of the old middle school site.

The old Winthrop Middle School on Pauline Street has been closed since 2016 when the new Middle/High School opened.

There have been efforts over the past years for the reuse of the site, but the town has yet to settle on a final plan for the property. The old middle school was one of two potential locations for a new fire station considered by the town council in 2024, but the council voted to move forward with a proposal at the town-owned basketball courts on Walden Street.

“The one sole topic of discussion will be middle school discussion,” Town Council President Jim Letterie said of the Jan. 14 meeting.

The meeting will be open to the public and broadcast on WCAT, but Letterie said it will be an opportunity for councilors to discuss the issue and there will not be public input at that meeting.

“There will be one topic on the agenda, it will be an open discussion among the councilors, but it will be open to the public,” said Letterie.

Letterie said the roundtable meeting is necessary because the council can’t legally meet and talk about and try to hash out a single issue by itself.

At the last town council meeting of 2024, Letterie noted there has been discussion at the last several meetings about the demolition of the school and auditorium, but not the gymnasium. He noted that there has also been some recent discussion about looking at the potential for five townhouse lots on a portion of the property.

“There has been one developer over the last many years, and it never went anywhere, interested in … redeveloping it as apartments,” said Letterie. “I don’t know what the thought process is on a substantial amount of units in that area.”

Letterie said there have been multiple plans and discussion about the property by the council over the years, but that there needs to be further discussion about moving forward with a project for the site. He has also said he believes that discussions for the overall site need to include an ice rink and gymnasium.