City Explores Options for Police Station and Ripley School Properties
By Ellen Putnam
Photo Credit: Nancy Clover
This week, the city held two listening sessions for residents to discuss their ideas for the future of the sites where the police station and the former Ripley School are located.
The current police station building will be vacant after the new police station building is constructed at the former Beebe School site. Construction is expected to begin later this year, and wrap up sometime in 2027.
The Ripley School, which shuttered as a public elementary school in 2001, is currently leased by SEEM Collaborative as an elementary school for students with disabilities. Last year, the School Committee voted to end that lease at the end of this school year and, along with the former Beebe School, transfer the Ripley School building and site to the city as properties with no further educational use.
Last spring, the City Council allocated $60,000 in free cash for a consultant to make a recommendation for what should be done with the two sites.
From The City of Melrose
The biggest question around both sites is whether the city should maintain control of the properties, lease them out, or sell them. If the city keeps the properties, they could have some public use; if the city sells them, it would no longer be responsible for paying for their upkeep and could receive tax revenue from the new owners.
The consultants identified, based on market analysis, that the police station site could be best used as mixed-use housing, with retail on the first floor and housing above. They suggested that the Ripley School site could be lower-density housing, possibly townhouses.
Many of the residents who attended Tuesday’s listening session had strong opinions about what should be done with the buildings. Some argued for the need for more affordable housing; others for the need for more parking downtown, suggesting that the city could turn the police station site into a parking garage; while others spoke to the need for more community or teen-focused space.
The consultants noted that, while resident opinions will be taken into account when presenting proposals to the city, their proposal will ultimately be based on their larger analysis of the sites and the financial considerations involved.
Residents who want to share their opinions about the sites can take a survey here.
