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The Medfield State Hospital Master Plan Committee (MSHMPC) is excited to invite the Medfield Community to review four preliminary concepts for the future of the former Medfield State Hospital site, the Hinkley Property and Lot #3 Ice House Road at a Public Open House, Tuesday, February 7, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Medfield High School Cafeteria. Participants may come and go as they please and should plan to spend approximately one hour to review all of the materials, interact with committee members, and provide feedback. The snow date will be on Thursday, February 9, same time, same place. Attendees are advised to watch the school closures and the MSHVison.net website for updates.
The Medfield Community has entrusted the MSHMPC with the responsibility of carefully studying alternative uses of the property and developing a preferred and recommended Master Plan that is acceptable to the Town. The Committee takes this responsibility very seriously, and is working carefully and diligently toward that goal. For the interest of the community, the MSHMPC have provided below a description of the process by which the Master Plan is being developed. The goal of this process is to lead to a solution that balances the many different (and sometimes competing) goals, objectives and potential uses for the Medfield State Hospital site and neighboring lands.
The process may be visualized as a series of steps that start with obtaining a broad array of ideas and concepts from the public, crystalizing these into four concepts for public review, narrowing this down to two alternatives and asking for feedback again, and finally presenting one recommended plan for approval of zoning changes. The Committee intends to present the final Master Plan by the summer of 2017 and the zoning and disposition plans at a Special Town Meeting in the fall of 2017.
The Committee is using a variety of methods and techniques to develop information, conduct research, analyze alternatives, and arrive at their recommendation, including:
Public workshops and meetings – Through a series of informal workshops and meetings open to the entire public and scheduled throughout the planning process, MSHMPC seeks inputs on ideas, desires, wishes, likes and dislikes, and feedback. The meeting on Tuesday, February 7 from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. will be the fifth public engagement the Committee has held. Additionally, MSHMPC plans to have a least one more public meeting during which the public will review two alternatives and provide feedback that will lead to the final plan. Approximately 550 people have participated in these public processes so far.
Public surveys – Using both electronic media (internet, Facebook, and Twitter) and printed surveys, the Committee has sought input through three surveys asking the community on general use categories, likes and dislikes, proposed applications, and rankings of options. In addition, the MSHMPC has conducted more specialized surveys on cultural interests and even ran a canvas of seniors at Medfield High School. Approximately 3,000 total responses have been received.
Other state hospitals – In order to obtain first-hand knowledge and impressions of what other towns have done, the MSHMPC conducted a series of interviews with senior officials and site visits with seven state hospital redevelopment projects and researched their plans: Foxborough, Danvers, Metropolitan State, Boston State, Tewksbury, Westborough, Pineland Farms (New Hampshire), and Traverse City State Hospital (Michigan). The results of these efforts are available on MSHVision.net.
Developer’s roundtable – Following a tour of the property, the Committee moderated a roundtable discussion with 12 area developers to get their comments and feedback, and – especially valuable – their critical questions about building conditions, infrastructure capacity, competitive bidding process, and time-schedule.
Catalyst meetings – The MSHMPC has held over 30 outreach meetings, visits, and extended conversations with a wide variety of companies and organizations to gauge their levels of interest on what might actually be done at the former hospital site. These included companies specializing in rehab of historical buildings, recreational establishments, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, farms and agricultural organizations, cultural centers, institutions that support adults with developmental disabilities, and Massachusetts governmental officials. These meetings have been exceptionally helpful, as they have given the Committee a reality-check on the viability of the proposed uses in the scenarios.
Financial model – To incorporate the hard economic and financial realities, the Committee worked with a professional master planning consultant (VHB/RKG) to develop a detailed financial model of the property that estimates costs, revenues, net cash-flows, municipal impacts, and property tax implications of alternative concepts over a 15-year time horizon.
Professional planning companies – Finally, to support and expand the capabilities of the volunteer committee, the MSHMPC hired consultants having extensive capabilities and expertise in comparable development projects. The Committee is currently engaged with McCabe Enterprises Team to facilitate the next phase of the process, and hqw continually been advised by the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) in design, facilitation, and implementation of this complex communications and planning process.
Applying these methods and approaches has taken considerable time and effort. It is the MSHMPC's goal to do a thorough, comprehensive, and thoughtful job in the development of an acceptable, balanced, and creative master plan for the former Medfield State Hospital.
