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Westwood Selects Former Deerfield School as Location for New Fire Station 1
The design for Westwood's new Fire Station 1 can now be tailored for the site of the former Deerfield School, following a joint meeting on Friday, August 7, of Westwood Select Board with the FS1 Steering Committee, held at the Carby Street municipal building. At that meeting, the board unanimously selected the former school site after receiving the committee’s unanimous recommendation that it was the preferred choice among three potential locations under review.
The steering committee began its deliberations by eliminating one of the three potentially feasible sites, based on a significant amount of negative community feedback. Along with the Deerfield School site, two other locations under consideration were the current FS1 site at 637 High Street and an undeveloped parcel, Lot 14-131, located behind Starbucks on High Street. Committee Vice Chair Jodi Petrucelli said the undeveloped lot had “highest opposition” among the three sites.
Chair Ford Spalding noted that in a community survey of 657 respondents, only 34 selected the undeveloped lot as their first choice.
Ms. Petrucelli explained that the undeveloped lot was the only one of the three locations requiring a forcible taking of privately owned land. To gain access from the lot to High Street, the Town of Westwood would have to acquire property from a commercial gas station, and address issues of cleanup from the oil and gas tanks, she said. Additionally, the lot offered no advantage which is not available at the other two, more popular locations, she said.
In a unanimous vote, the steering committee decided to remove the undeveloped lot from consideration.
Of the two remaining choices of selecting as a new FS1 site, the Deerfield location emerged as the clear choice, based on a matrix of 21 weighted factors that included: Ability to Accommodate Front Line Apparatus, Ability to Meet Programmatic Need for Training Space, Ability to House a Maintenance Bay, Response Time Coverage, Lot Restriction (Wetlands), Lot Restriction (Topography), Site Access (without Takings), Environmental Concerns, Cost & Taxpayer Alignment, and Community Feedback.
The matrix revealed that the existing FS1 site received the lowest rating, “Poor/Least Favorable,” in three categories: Site Constraints, Apparatus Circulation, and Lot Restriction. In contrast, the Deerfield School site did not receive any “Poor/Least Favorable” ratings.
The existing FS1 site also received fewer "Good/Favorable” and “Excellent/Highly Favorable” ratings from committee members than the Deerfield site.
Factors cited by project planners in favor of the Deerfield site include the ability to continue fire operations without moving them to a temporary site, room for future expansion, relatively flat topography, an improved physical connection between fire operations and police operations, a design that preserves recreational opportunities with improved fields, and improved stormwater drainage.
The estimated construction schedule for the Deerfield site was also deemed preferable, with 18 to 20 months of construction compared to 22 to 24 months at the existing FS1 site.
Of the 657 survey responses, the existing FS1 site was the location most often chosen as respondents’ first choice, said Mr. Spalding. He noted that 339 people selected the existing FS1 site, 284 chose the Deerfield site, and 34 chose the undeveloped lot behind Starbucks. Although community feedback was considered in the committee’s deliberations, it was only one of 21 weighted considerations included in the committee’s matrix.
Westwood Fire Chief Steven Lund also spoke up in favor of the Deerfield site as his preferred choice among the options. He noted that the site would allow for movement in and out of apparatus bays, a shorter construction time, and easier construction. Two stories are planned at the Deerfield location compared to three stories at the location of the existing FS1.
Select Board Chair Marianne LeBlanc Cummings noted that the matrix supported the steering committee’s decision, which she said focused on emergency response and operational effectiveness. Those considerations emerged as residents’ top priorities from the community survey, she said.
Following the steering committee’s discussion and Select Board’s questions and comments, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the Deerfield School site as its preferred location.
Soon after, Select Board Chair Cummings made a motion for the board to select Deerfield as the site for the FS1 project. Select Board Member Joe Previtera seconded the motion, and all three board members voted in favor.
The selection of the site of a new FS1 was months in the making. The Board formed the steering committee last year after two unsuccessful votes on a previous proposal for a new, larger, FS1 at the existing location. The town subsequently hired PMA Consultants as the new Owner's Project Manager and Kaestle Boos Associates as project designer, respectively. The new team proposed a building size that is reduced by 19 percent. A larger building had previously been rejected by taxpayers.
Following the board's vote, Ms. Cummings addressed the abutters of the newly designated FS1 project site at the former Deerfield School. She said town officials had met with them over previous months, and she assured them that communication would continue.
“We care about the construction of FS1, obviously, and we care about your neighborhood," she said. "And we hope very much that as part of this project, we’re actually going to improve your neighborhood, and we’ve talked about some of the expected improvements. And you are going to be a very important part of that conversation."
Planners will now work on the schematic design phase, permitting, and required public approvals. This fall, schematic design site plans and renderings, final project scope, budget, tax impact analysis, and financing plans are expected to become available.
At a Special Town Meeting tentatively scheduled for October 26, 2026, registered Westwood voters in attendance will be asked whether to approve Select Board's site selection, FS1 project budget, and whether to authorize borrowing necessary funds.
A debt exclusion ballot vote is scheduled for November 3, when registered Westwood voters will be asked whether the town may raise property-tax revenue above its Proposition 2-1/2 levy limit, to make principal and interest payments on the FS1 project debt.
