LETTER: Reader Concerned About Future Use Of Woburn St. & Wildwood School Properties If New School Project Passes + Editor’s Note

{EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a well-written and well-researched letter, but I did want to provide some context. This letter was submitted on Sunday, August 31. Town Manager Eric Slagle addressed the concerns in this letter at the Finance Committee Meeting on Tuesday, September 2. To summarize, Slagle said the Town has no intention of selling or leasing the Woburn Street or Wildwood properties. Slagle stated both properties will continue to be used for municipal purposes, noting “tentative” plans of cemetery expansion at the Wildwood site and recreational fields at the Woburn Street School. Slagle added that, in order for town land to be sold or leased, he would have to deem the property surplus, the Select Board would have to approve the plan to sell or lease, and then residents would have to vote at a Town Meeting — by at least a 2/3 majority — to support the sale or lease. Slagle stated selling or leasing the properties “will not be entertained” since there are municipal uses for the properties. Watch Slagle’s remarks HERE.}

Dear Editor and Neighbors of the Woburn Street and Wildwood Schools,

On October 8, 2024, the Wildwood School Building Committee (WSBC) selected a site for the new PreK-5 school in Wilmington, MA. The site, known as the North Intermediate School site, is the WSBC’s preferred option to move onto the next phase with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

The selected option for the new PreK-5 school at the North Intermediate will be an approximately 163,000 square foot building, and house 755 students plus PreK and will include a 12,000 square foot gymnasium. The existing Woburn Street School and Wildwood Schools will be decommissioned and likely be turned over to the Wilmington Buildings Department or other Town department until a decision is made as to the future use of the property.

The Woburn Street School property is a 10-acre property in a Residence 20 (R20) zoning district. The Principal Use Regulations per the Wilmington Zoning Bylaws (as revised per the April 29, 2023 Town Meeting) allows for residential housing such as single-family housing and accessory apartments to be constructed in a R-20 zoned district. The Wilmington Zoning Bylaws also provides that with a special permit from the Board of Appeals, developments such as Community Housing Facilities as well as Multiple Dwelling Units can also be constructed in a R-20 zoned district.

My concern as a resident of Great Neck Dr (off Woburn Street) is that the 10-acre Woburn Street School property will be sold to a real estate developer for the purpose of multi-family housing. This will severely and negatively impact the residents near the Woburn Street School through an increase in traffic volume and safety issues on Woburn and High Streets. Major improvements to the roadway infrastructure along Woburn Street and High Street would need to be made to accommodate the development of this property.

The location of the Woburn Street School is in a residential neighborhood. The section of Woburn Street between Concord Street and the Woburn Street School is a heavily traveled, narrow, winding road with sidewalks on just one side of the street. In the opposite direction, heading down High Street from the Woburn Street School, the road is also a heavily traveled, winding road with sidewalks on just one side of the street.

The cost of the selected school project to the Town of Wilmington taxpayers is more than $111 million, which is net of the $62 million reimbursement from the MSBA, so the sale of this property to a developer would certainly help to pay for this project. However, the negative non-financial impact will be at the expense of the nearby residents and homeowners near the Woburn Street School property.

We can take note of the increased traffic congestion along Lowell Street (Rte. 129), particularly at the intersection near Mckinnon’s Market due to the Rachels Village Development (168 Lowell Street) and The Alice Development (203 Lowell Street). Rachels Village is a 36- unit town home community on 3.23 acres of land. Would the 10-acre site of the Woburn Street School be transformed into a 90–100-unit housing development?

The Wildwood and Woburn Street Schools do need to be repaired and/or modernized. However, until a plan for a decommissioned Woburn Street School site is determined, I believe it is risky to assume that this property would not now or in the future be deemed surplus property by the Town and then subsequently sold. I strongly believe that the prudent option as a nearby resident is to vote against the project at the Special Town Meeting on September 13, 2025. We as affected neighbors of the Woburn Street School need clarity as to the future of that large piece of property.

The site of the Wildwood School is approximately 7.5 acres and may also be open to the possibility of a sale to real estate developer if the property is ever deemed surplus property by the Town. The Wildwood School is also in an R-20 zoning district.

As an alternative, the Town of Wilmington could take the necessary steps through the formal procedures to authorize and vote that the $111 million that is currently projected to be paid by the residents of Wilmington under the WSBC preferred option, be used to renovate and update the Woburn Street School, The North Intermediate School and the Wildwood School. I would support this alternative.

The Special Town Meeting on this proposal is on September 13, 2025, which seeks voter approval of the project. The Special Town Meeting will be held at the Wilmington High School at 9:00 a.m.

On September 16, 2025, there is a ballot vote for a debt exclusion to increase our taxes beyond the levy ceiling for the financing of the North Intermediate PreK-5 project.

Thank you,
Joseph Favuzza