Bethany Property: How Much Land and Cost Still Unknown

Originally posted at 9 a.m. Updated with new map of Bethany property at 9:44 a.m.

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Later this month, a Special Town Meeting will be held to decide if the Town of Framingham should purchase land on Bethany Road for a possible new school.

However, at this time, it is unknown how many acres would be purchased and at what price, said Framingham Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Ed Gotgart.

Gotgart said there are three pieces of property owned by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

One parcel of property, where the Sisters live and where Bethany Health Care Center is located is not for sale. The other two pieces of property are for sale.

The first parcel is 16.55 acres.

The second parcel is 18.69 acres, with a building on it.

“That is the big question,” said Gotgart on what the Town will purchase and for how much.

Gotgart said the Town of Framingham is getting an appraisal on the two properties and the building.

The owners have said the the land on each property is worth $3 million each and the building is valued at $9 million.

If the town were to purchase both properties and the building at the current asking price it would be $15 million. However, the Town and the owners are in the middle of negotiations on a price and on what acreage specifically the Town may purchase.

Last year, when the idea was first mentioned to purchase the property on the south side of Framingham for a potential new school, school and town leaders were using marketing materials that mentioned that 12 acres of Bethany Road land were available for sale, said Gotgart.

Editor’s Note: Pictured (second photo) is the two parcels of land as shown in the 2015 marketing materials. The lots are now divided differently, as shown in the first photo.

But Gotgart said the Town (and school leaders) now need to decide if they wish to purchase parcel 1, parcel 2, or both parcels for a new school. The total of the two parcels is about 35 acres.

Those negotiations on how much land to purchase, whether to purchase the existing building, and how much to pay is still being negotiated, said Gotgart, who said the goal is to have answers for Town Meeting members by Feb. 23.

School leaders went before the Finance Committee last month with no cost figures or no acres plans.

Framingham Patch was the first media outlet to publish the district’s idea to purchase the Bethany property as a potential new school.

School administration and the Framingham School Committee believe the Bethany property is ideal, as it is on the south side of Framingham, where a significant percentage of the district’s population lives.

Gotgart said there are 680 elementary students currently who live in that area, of which more than 590 are bused to the town’s nine elementary schools.

Editor’s note: That is my neighborhood and I am considered an abutter to the Bethany Road property, in full transparency.

Framingham had several schools on the south side, but they have since closed or the buildings have been used for non-school purposes.

For example, the former Memorial Elementary School is now housing units. The former Roosevelt Elementary School is now a playgound on Fay Road. The proposed Bethany Hill site is within walking distance to both those closed schools.

Town Meeting member George Lewis of Precinct 18 has suggested that the Town not purchase the Bethany property, and just rebuild a neighborhood school on the former site of the Roosevelt School on Fay Road, whichthe Town of Framingham already owns.

Gotgart said that can not be done, as state regulations require a minimum of 5 acres for an elementary school plus 1 acre for every 100 students.

”We need a minimum of 10 acres to build any elementary school,” said Gotgart.

The Roosevelt Property is only 3.8 acres, said Gotgart.

The regulations require a minimum of 10 acres for a middle school and another 1 acre for each 100 students, explained Gotgart.

“So, we would need a minimum of 15 acres for a middle school,” he added.

Either of the two parcels on Bethany Road could be used to build either a middle or elementary school in Framingham, said Gotgart, using the state regulations.

School Committee member Jim Kelly has suggested that the Bethany property could be used as site for a new high school.

In order to do that, both parcels would need to be purchased, said Gotart, who said he believes the state would require a minimum of 35 acres for a high school.

Last month, the Massachusetts School Building Authority officially voted to begin the process to fund a feasibility study to renovate or replace Fuller Middle School.

Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott announced on Dec. 22, that the Authority’s staff would recommend the Board approve Framingham’s application - its third application in as many years.

Framingham Public Schools applied to renovate or replace Fuller Middle School, the former Framingham South High School.

The state process for funding is complicated - more than 8 steps in the eligibility phase, including creating a School Building Committee. If all the steps are completed within the 270-day time frame, the state then could fund the feasibility study.

The state’s decision on January 27 does not guarantee funding for the project for Framingham, but was needed to move the process forward.

“We are elated with the prospect of this support which coincides with the proposal to acquire land as a possible site for building a new school. Congratulations to the Town that worked as a team to make this possible,” wrote Scott, back in December.

The School Committee is expected to discuss the next steps at its meeting tonight, Feb. 2.

Scott has also said that purchasing he Bethany property, and building a school on the property, would not eliminate school choice in Framingham.