I’d like to share this story about the city threatening to take a site by eminent domain and construct a fire station headquarters on the property. It’s a 1-acre parcel of land that is across the street from me. It’s filled with garbage and asbestos among many things for the past 7 years.
While every postage-sized piece of land is being built on I can’t say why this lot has remained a pit. Recently it’s become known that the city want to put a fire station headquarters here and it’s a terrible fit.
We in the neighborhood have waited and looked on to see what they would build here as the rest of the city is becoming a fun and interesting place to live and experience. Please make publicize this project.
More details at: savespringhill.com
Thanks!
Welcome:
515 Somerville Ave is currently a vacant 1-acre parcel of land with future plans for development.
A private developer owns the land and would like to turn the location into a mixed use project that combines retail space, rental housing and communal green space. With the right planning, 515 Somerville Ave can attract new students, residents, merchants and shoppers and achieve its full potential as a key connector to the rest of our city and neighboring Cambridge.
But that investment is in peril because the City is threatening to take the site by eminent domain and construct a fire station headquarters on the property.
We believe that a fire station headquarters (complete with training tower), as the city has proposed, will harm the quality of life for nearby residents and is a bad deal for Somerville as a whole. We are urging our elected officials to ask their constituents if this is truly what they want for the neighborhood.
If you live in Somerville and would like to make your voice heard, please sign our petition, which can be found right here:
Sign the Petition!
Additionally, please consider contacting your Alderman. If you live in Spring Hill, your Alderman is Maryann Heuston, who can be reached at 617-492-5331 or mheuston@hotmail.com. You can also contact Alderman at-large Bob McWatters at 617-623-7053 or RMcWatters@somervillema.gov.
Finally, we are hosting a community meeting on May 20, 6:00 PM, at the St Anthony’s Parish Bingo Hall on 12 Properzi Way. All are welcome!
The parcel has been an eyesore for years since the Solomon Fabric Company closed. I have lived in the neighborhood for decades and all of the neighbors I have spoken to would welcome the Fire Headquarters to the location. We are sick of looking at an empty lot with no activity and no progress. I hope Alderman Heuson and McWatters give the green light for eminent domain and get construction started as soon as possible.
Let’s clean up that corner lot once and for all!
Tom