Wellesley Administration interested in turning church into athletics complex
Massachusetts – Wellesley town planners have expressed their thoughts about buying the old St. James Great Church and turning it into an athletic complex. Reportedly, this complex would include a much needed soccer field, an ice rink and most probably a
swimming pool as well.
Don McCauley, a member of the Wellesley St. James Ad Hoc Committee while talking to the media correspondents said that they had told the archdiocese that they were interested in buying the large old church.
The Ad hoc committee had also prepared the initial feasibility report to dwell upon the best possible usage of the 7.9 acres of church land. McCauley told the media that the exact appraisal figure was not released yet. However, the overall construction of
the complex would require at least $13 million.
Chair of the town Andy Wrodel while talking to the media addressed the archdiocese and said that if they were listening, Wellesley town administration would love to buy their property.
On the flip side, Parisioners have been holding a vigil since the closure of the church was announced by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2004. The nine members Parishes which are still in vigil are constantly appealing to the Pope to stay open. However, the
final verdict from the church regarding the future of the old St. James church is yet to come.
The Ad hoc committee told the media personnel that they had submitted the feasibility report of the complex to the select men. The spokesperson for the committee said that they had taken a forward thinking look at the needs of their town where existing facilities
are no more enough to meet the needs of the increasing population. He said that there had been a bulge of young kids coming up through the school system, who have started demanding for the full size fields.
He also expressed the need of having an ice rink for more than 400 kids interested in playing hockey. He once again stressed upon the fact that the best use of the free space of the old church would be to turn it into the much needed athletic complex.
The initial feasibility of the proposed project has been prepared by Gale Engineering hired by the town’s community preservation committee for $25, 000.
McCauley, while sharing the other possible usages of the free place of the St. James Church said that they had also thought about turning it into residential development or commercial development areas. However, in public meetings the tremendous excitement
for recreational usages of the land had been expressed, and considering the views of the committee members they would rather prefer to keep the enthusiasm going.
If the Archdiocese of Boston agrees upon selling the old church to Wellesley administration, there are plans to build an artificial turf field with lights on it for night activities. Besides that, there would be a skating rink with latest locker facilities,
concessional stand and a parking lot for at least 200 cars. To pay for the rink, funds raised by Wellesley Youth Hockey would be utilized. The initial estimates about the cost of the rink were $4.2 million. The field and car parking would require an additional
1.8 million dollars.
After buying the church and making an ice rink, field and car parking for the proposed athletic complex, if the administration would be able to raise the additional funds, it would also like have an aquatic center with a 25-meter 8 lane pool accompanied
by a toddler splash and warm water therapy centre. The locker facilities at the aquatic center would be shared with the rink.
The Ad hoc committee also had plans about building a bubble over the field so that the playable season could be extended. However, the idea was later on dismissed amid the unavailability of the required funds.
As expected, the funding questions were at the heart of the meeting of the ad hoc committee. However, all these plans were strictly contingent upon the decision of the archdiocese regarding selling the church land to the town committee.
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