For two and a half years now, the Lynnhurst, Oaklandvale, and Waybright schools in Saugus have sat vacant, ghostly reminders of a school district of years gone by.
Ahead of the 2021-22 school year, the town’s elementary-school students were relocated to the Veterans Early Learning Center, home to students in pre-K through first grade, and the newly refurbished Belmonte STEAM Academy, home to students in grades two through five.
Since March 2022, each school building has been under town control, following a School Committee vote to relinquish control of the sites. But, as 2024 approaches, the future of those buildings is as murky as ever.
Last November, the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager Scott Crabtree hosted a public forum seeking feedback from residents on the future of the buildings. There, they assured residents that no plans were in place to sell the buildings or to turn them into commercial apartments.
At the time, Selectman Michael Serino said the primary concern of the board was to protect the town’s neighborhoods.
The only definitive plan to come out of the forum was floated by Crabtree, who said the town would move its Youth and Recreation Department, housed at 400 Central St., to one of the since-abandoned buildings.
But since November, there has been little to no public communication from the board or Crabtree about what the town plans to do with the buildings, which still require maintenance and upkeep from the town. On Thursday, some selectmen indicated that the buildings would remain vacant for a while longer, and plans for what to do with them would remain shelved.
“Because we are facing some costly challenges associated with the new vocational school as well as potentially the new third fire station, the repurposing of the school buildings is not on the front burner,” Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini said.
Cicolini noted that any repurposing of the buildings would come at a significant cost, and any plan would have to take into account the impacts of the other capital projects in town.
“We will have to… ensure the impact on our residents is palatable,” he said.
Cicolini acknowledged that the town had many needs that could possibly be served by one of the abandoned buildings, including senior and veterans housing, a community center, open space, and cemetery space, echoing many of the suggestions brought forward at the forum.
The board’s chair, Debra Panetta, echoed Cicolini, and noted that discussions about what to do with the buildings were held as the town crafted its master plan.
Serino said the town should consider keeping one of the buildings available for the “future educational needs of our community.”
