Department of Public Works presents plans for move to Fernald property

Waltham’s Department of Public Works plans to move out and get its own space in a couple of years.

The DPW will move from 155 Lexington St. to the site of the former Fernald State School by early 2029, giving the city more space at the Lexington complex to renovate the Police and Fire department headquarters.

The City Council had heard stirrings for months about a possible DPW move to the site of the former Fernald State School.. 

At its Monday meeting, the council got a first look at what the new DPW headquarters may look like and got an update on its construction timeline. It also learned how the project will fit into larger plans to renovate 155 Lexington St., which currently houses the DPW, police and fire headquarters.

Councilors heard a proposal for the new DPW headquarters’ layout from Mike Richard of architectural planning firm Weston & Sampson. 

Because of the irregular topography of the area, Richard proposed the headquarters would be split into two main buildings. One would house the DPW’s administrative offices and workshops and have an attached covered garage to store the department’s vehicles. The second building would serve as a vehicle maintenance and cleaning bay with additional materials storage areas, including a salt shed. 

These new buildings will be housed at the southeast corner of the Fernald site, near the former Phineas Lawrence Elementary School. They would be accessible from Waverley Oaks Road.

DPW Director Michael Chiasson said this location isn’t as central as 155 Lexington St., but the move will give the DPW more space for its operations. “I think we get everything we want and a little bit more than we have now,” he told councilors.

The architectural plan designated another smaller building on the site to be used as a recycling drop-off area. Richard said it wasn’t large enough for a “swap shop” where residents could donate or pick up items, and Chiasson said the department hasn’t made a final decision on how the recycling site will be used.

Multiple councilors also asked about the possibility of using the recycling site or other Fernald land for a city composting program. 

“Area cities … are jealous of the amount of land that we have to do something like [composting],” said Councilor-at-Large Colleen Bradley-MacArthur.

Building at the Fernald

Use of and construction at the Fernald site presents several issues.

The site itself, Richard explained, is difficult to build on. It includes steep slopes and conservation-protected land, and Ward 6 Councilor Sean T. Durkee said some parts are “environmentally restricted” due to contamination from an adjoining power plant. 

The location also has a complicated history. The Fernald State School served as the country’s first publicly funded school for people with developmental disabilities. But it also has a documented history of human rights abuses happening there, and community and family members are still trying to access and process records of the people who lived on its grounds. 

Councilors said the city did not use Community Preservation Act funding to purchase the segment of the Fernald property where the DPW complex will be built so it has more flexibility on what it can build there. 

The city plans to build a rink just across the property’s border, at the former Lawrence Elementary, and create a 15-acre cemetery on the Fernald estate to the north and east of proposed DPW buildings.

What’s next

Richard said the firm will next create schematic designs and floor plans, hire subcontractors to survey the site and estimate total construction costs. 

He said he expects to return to the City Council in September to ask for pre-construction funding so the project can go out to bid by October. This will be the first of two funding requests for the site; the firm will be back a second time next summer for construction funds.

Once the DPW moves out of the building, the Lexington Street renovation can pick up speed. The City Council could see a funding request for that work in October or November, with a final project completion date set for late 2030.