New life at old campus: 40B plans for UMass site

With Chelmsford struggling with a long-running dearth of affordable housing, David Hedison has an ambitious plan to turn that trend around.

Five old, brick buildings stand abandoned on about 34 acres of land in North Chelmsford, Hedison said. They could easily hold 100 units with room for community space, he said.

Wang Laboratories donated the former truancy school complex to UMass Lowell almost 25 years ago, Hedison said.

Right now, the land looks like something out of a Stephen King novel. Bugs, birds and the occasional truck roaring down Route 3, are the only sounds to be heard from the old school’s lawn.

On one of the buildings, chains keep a backdoor closed and plywood seals up the windows.

Weeds and tall grass grow out of the cracked asphalt and strong young trees block the view to front entrance.

“I think they’re (buildings) kind of cool,” said Hedison. “And it’s redevelopment. We could use Community Preservation funds.”

Today only one building remains in use as the Fay Rotenberg School for girls.

As the director of the Chelmsford Housing Authority, Hedison has helped to build affordable housing around town before. But to undertake such a large project he would need support from the community, he said.

Also, the property has a covenant that permits the property to be used only for educational purposes.

“We need to be doing things differently,” Hedison said. With the right legal counsel, the town could probably get the covenant lifted before it expires in 2014, he said.

“But all of those things are going to require action,” said Hedison. “I don’t think a lot of these things are going to be accepted by the town.”

“I’ve seen — three or four times — a coyote going up the hill,” said Edie Logeman who lives behind one of the buildings. Logeman worries about her cats and said she sees bats flying in and out of the buildings at night.

“There is an awful lot of cloudiness surrounding it. I think there’s a certain beauty to it,” Logeman said. “I think it needs maintenance. I think it needs to be addressed.”

Logeman’s next-door neighbor, Maureen McKeown, agrees that the buildings need to be fixed, but she does not want more housing so close.

“I think there’s quite a bit of traffic around here,” said McKeown. Her neighborhood is in between Princeton Street and Technology Drive, two busy streets.

St. Andrews Way, where Logeman and McKeown live is secluded for now, though an old dirt path connects St. Andrews to the old campus.

“I like the fact that it’s very quiet,” McKeown said, from her back porch. But, she said, “It’s really unattractive in its present state. Certainly something should be developed with it.”

Andy Metzger can be reached at ametzger@cnc.com or at 978-371-5745.