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By Douglas McCulloch
Hometown Weekly Staff
Wellesley voters took to the polls on May 10 for a special election, and passed a debt exclusion for the construction of a new Senior Center.
With 25 percent of Wellesley’s 15,900 registered voters casting their votes, the debt exclusion question passed with a vote of 2,221 for the proposal, and 1,722 against the proposal.
The vote was the result of work that began in 2007 to decide where to build a new Senior Center for Wellesley’s senior citizens. After years of feasibility studies and analysis, it was decided that the new building will be constructed at 496 Washington Street, and will feature 12,400 square feet of space.
The vote comes after Town Meeting members voted to appropriate $9 million to the project at the annual Town Meeting in April.
The proposal was controversial, with a number of people on both sides of the issue.
In an article previously published in Hometown Weekly, those for the project noted that the project would create a more positive atmosphere for Wellesley’s 6,000-plus senior citizens, while at the same time will provide a facility better compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act and help support the Council on Aging’s growth.
Those against the project cited a number of concerns, including concerns about increased traffic near where the new Senior Center will be built, parking issues, the tax impact of the project, and concerns that the location selected for the project is not the best option.
