Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Town Meeting this past week was filled with much discussion concerning master planning. There was a call for a town-wide master plan, a master plan for the former state hospital land and each of the departments are looking at five year master plans for their areas.
The following is a look back sixty years ago in 1956 and what the Master Plan Committee at that time was calling for.
The main issue being discussed by the Master Plan Committee in 1956, centered on the overcrowded usage of Town Hall.
First, was what to do with the overcrowded condition in the Fire Department? The Fire Department was expressing concern about “the lack of space in their quarters underneath Town Hall. Anticipating future additional equipment, it was evident that a larger space would be required.”
Residents were warned that “under the present conditions it is difficult to have a speedy exit of the fire trucks on their way to a fire. At the time of a fire the area behind town hall becomes congested with the volunteer firefighter’s cars.
With additional growth of the town and increased fire equipment requirements, it seems advisable to plan for a new building to take care of fire equipment. In such a plan, consideration should be given to providing a place for the storage of the town ambulance.”
It was said the police department, at present, should be able to carry on in its present quarters on the first floor of town hall until the force is considerably expanded.
The Committee reported that the Highway Department located in the lot behind town hall, “does not have enough space to store its trucks and at present has to rent from private owners space to garage two of its vehicles.”
The Master Plan Committee had examined several sites for a new Fire Station or combined Police and Fire Station. According to the report, “the two most likely sites would be, first, by the side of Bakers Pond on Frairy Street and Upham Road and, second, on the southwest corner of North and Dale Streets.”
The Committee felt that “while the Police Department, at present, does not want to move from the immediate vicinity of the Town Square, they will want to do so eventually at the time of their increased expansion, and at that time, should move into the same building used by the Fire Department.
At that point, they could cover each other’s telephones and other services under certain circumstances.”
The Committee went on to say that, “once the Fire Department moves into its new station, the Highway Department could move into the space currently occupied by the Fire Department, underneath Town Hall.”
In the years before 1956, a theatre operated on the upper floor of Town Hall. But by 1956 the Master Plan Committee reported that “the theater is not operating at present in the Town House. The activities of almost all town departments and committees are expanding. There is constant need for additional rooms for meetings and hearings.
The committee report continued, “The theatre section has grown inadequate to house Town Meetings and these are now held in the High School (now Dale Street School) Auditorium. We feel it would be best not to continue to rent space to the Theatre and instead suggest that an architect draw plans to make the best use of this space for the benefit of the town officials and the public.”
The Master Plan Committee also had negotiated to acquire 60 acres of land bounded by Pound Street, South Street and Philip Street for the use of the School Committee for a future high school and junior high school.
