Dear Editor,
“Scope Creep” happens when stakeholders add more deliverables. Current evidence of scope creep seems to be that the Select Board and Town Manager’s office have suggested that the disposition of the Buzzell School is within scope of the Town Hall and School Administration (THSA) Building project, specifically that the removal of that building is a part of site preparation, and demolition should be funded as part of the contingency funds. This is in direct contradiction to the discussions and assurances at the 2022 special town meeting.
First, demolition was NOT included as a part of the plan approved by voters in the November 2022 special town meeting. It was not considered as part of “site preparation” at the time of the vote, and the new building was specifically configured to be down the slope from the old Senior Center to allow for reuse of the Buzzell. When Wilmington gathered to approve funding for the new Senior Center and the Town Hall, multiple people in the public forum discussed ramifications for the Buzzell School building. George Hooper, Superintendent of Public Buildings said as part of his opening remarks (23:50), “One thing Wilmington’s good at is re-use, and we can repurpose some of these buildings.” As members of the community questioned how the building might be reused (1:17-1:22), the community wondered if funds from the THSA project could be used for improvements on the adjacent Buzzell School. The answer from the Town Moderator was “That would be outside the scope of the article and require a separate town vote.” Later in the meeting, when addressing the needs of our aging buildings, Town Manager Hull stated, “We have alot of buildings that are going to need addressed… this is why we have maintained free cash in reserves.”
A building re-use committee was spooled up to investigate the viability, costs, community sentiment around re-use, and potential uses for Buzzell School. Their findings were presented on September 22, 2025. The findings were that the building scored a 62/100, demonstrating high viability for re-use. The community sentiment survey with around 777 respondents revealed about 2:1 IN FAVOR of building reuse, with suggested uses via municipal departmental needs (specific needs expressed by the library, recreation department, and historical commission archival space), lease agreement to local non-profit WCTV, or lease to a local fraternal society.
Somehow, the new Superintendent of Buildings (George Hooper having retired) concluded his remarks with no recommendation, despite the high favorability from the community. He presented the Select Board with a cost estimate to upgrade the building to code, in the event that ADA compliance were a priority, even though it hadn’t been ADA compliant as a senior center for 40 years! His final comments pivoted that he would rather not put money into an older building worth less than $600k, saying the decision should be purely financial, and not emotional. This violates my sensibilities, saying that we can’t assign intrinsic value to buildings and recognize form in addition to function, or incorporate sentimental rationale for maintaining older (even “historic”) buildings.
My observation is that spending around $100k to do asbestos abatement and demolition of a 6-room school building already worth $600k is a loss of $700k worth of value. Instead, a little work, perhaps from students at Shawsheen Tech, can help bring the building up to code with new wiring, insulation, and ADA compliance, and provide well-positioned space. Furthermore, rushing into demolition is irreversible.
Second, funds to demolish and remove the Buzzell School cannot simply be swept up as “site preparation.” The THSA building is nearing completion, the Buzzell School has been upgraded to town sewer. There is literally no functional impact to the new building by leaving the Buzzell in place. Further, the OPM expressed concern that the demolition of the building was not in the original plan, and they felt uncomfortable accepting building demolition as a routine change order. When previous schools were ordered demolished, the instructions and funds allocated for demolition were approved by town vote. In May 2015, a voice vote approved demolishing the 1904 Whitefield School. In May 2009, a two-thirds vote approved demolishing the 1914 Swain School (114:43).
Treating the THSA contingency fund as a back-door to fund demolition of the Buzzell goes against the will of the people, is not necessary, and deprives our town of much-needed affordable space.
Sincerely,
Joe Jackson
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