Chelmsford, Mass: A Small Bay State Town On The Chopping Block (OPINION)
*This story was written to memorialize Chelmsford’s great comeback, and the story of how it almost didn’t make it out of the baby boom. Facing budget cuts, total loss of farms and industry, and unprecedented population growth, it still managed to survive into this century. I hoped it would bring back memories of years past. The first chapter showcases Chelmsford’s rich history and community from centuries ago. The second chapter manages to showcase controversial topics and battles so the outsider can get a glimpse at how the community has struggled. The last chapter is dedicated to showcasing the great community of Chelmsford farmers, small business owners, and volunteers who dedicate their services to keep Chelmsford’s “charm” alive and well for future generations. The intent of writing this was not to disparage the residents of Chelmsford in a negative light, nor is it singling out a town. The topics discussed here are a common theme throughout the Rust Belt. This story shows how far we have come. Chelmsford is the best town I’ve ever lived in. The title above is sarcastic humor you commonly here from “Chelmsfordians”. All that is discussed here is debating politics and nothing personal.
*If you would like to read more on this topic and theme, a great book that goes more into detail was written by Eleanor Parkhurst called “The History of Chelmsford 1910–1970, A rural Massachusetts town deals with explosive growth in the 20th century.” It deals with many of the same topics discussed in this short story you are about to read.
Before you begin reading this, one may ask how I began writing this story. It all started with me observing my surroundings, and asking if and how we could improve our situation. Instead of just accepting reality I decided to question it, and that through this premise it would make for a story that was long overdo. All of the interviews and quotes I used in the story come from public town meetings, discussions which were broadcast on public access, and various local newspapers such as the Lowell Sun and Boston Globe. All of the photos used in this story were either taken by me, scanned from newspaper clippings I cut out, or used from the town’s own website paid for by taxpayers. Much has already been written about the history of Chelmsford but not so much where we are going today, and the economics and politics which are shaping future decisions that are being made to this town. That is what I found so intriguing. As you pulled away each layer of the onion, you began to uncover a great story that deserves to be told.
There are often stories that are written which are hard to talk about. Not hard in the sense they are difficult, but hard in that it’s a topic or discussion most of us don’t want to admit. It’s the elephant in the room and everyone is waiting for someone to point it out so we can shoot a tranquilizer into its back and return it to the zoo where it belongs. This is one of those touchy subjects and it means a lot to myself and the many that have grown up in this small town I am about to showcase. They have watched it grow over the many years to where it is today. What I am going to discuss is a phenomenon which is happening in every small town across the United States. As housing in the big city becomes out of reach for so many Americans, many new developers are looking to small towns desperate for cash in the name of affordable rentals. As condo development moves in, much of the original charm and character that makes up a town is demolished. Only the stories from longtime residents are left to be passed down to future generations. This is Chelmsford’s story.
For most of the town’s history the small Middlesex County community had relatively gone unchanged. Chelmsford historically had been an industrial and farm center of Massachusetts, home to giant dairy farms, egg factories, apple orchards, and the sounds of pigs that were passed down to generations of each family member for hundreds of years. Most of the residents either worked for a factory in North Chelmsford or owned their own farm. You had the Red Wing on Maple, and Sunny Meadows owned by the Lewis family. You had Marie Duckee’s across the street from Valley Ridge, and Blaisdale right behind it which was sold to build our middle schools. Spiros on Pine Hill had the best eggs in town, right across from Koulis that now lies collapsed alongside the highway where cow crossing was once a regular and you would always get a friendly wave driving by. Green Ridge Turkeys become a strip mall by the year 1998. The 128 acre Aldrich Farm connected Westford and Chelmsford raised over 60 sheep, turkeys, and horses in the red barn. Lupien’s Farm who sold the best cider and apple pies every year, and Perham known for their fresh cider as well. Mr. Jordan kept his sheep over on Acton Road until the high voltage lines went up, next door to Hillside Farm along North Road. On the east side you had the “big three” which included the towering home of Shedd’s Dairy and Sears Dairy next door on Marshall Street, and everyone would stop for the sweetest corn and squash at McKennedy’s that was eventually raised for housing development in 2015. Then there was the Town Farm on Billerica and Golden Cove where prison inmates were allowed to stay for up to 6 months while they improved their circumstances. There were as many as six families at a time in residence. They were required to work the farm to raise crops and animals for slaughter. Each family was responsible to cook one day a week. Staples like flour and sugar were provided by the town, as was the farm itself and its administration.
“My childhood memories gone! Living in East Chelmsford when there were farms. Cows and pigs and corn. A dairy farm across every street. I will never forget the sites and sounds of the old Chelmsford.” — Sandra Spence
“Sunny Meadows had a little store right at the farm’s main entrance where we got our dairy products. In the winter, we went sledding on the hilly pasture land. In the early spring, they would manure their strawberry patch, and my dad would say, “Breathe in deep! That’s what makes the strawberries so sweet!” — Kathi DeCanio
When Interstate 495 was erected in 1960 everything began to change a lot. It cut right through many of the original farm land segregating the town in half, and many small businesses were bypassed by new daily commuters which used the roadways as a means to get to and from work off the highway instead of using the two lane Route 3. For train tracks you could drive over but not so with the new Interstate System, and Chelmsford had the distinction of being one of the few towns in Massachusetts where the highways ran directly through them, redirecting traffic through their town center. Increased traffic was routed through the suburbs as it was removed from the surrounding cities in Lowell and Boston in an era where developers were looking to remove train routes and reduce traffic in city centers over the following decades.
“Skip’s was to Chelmsford what Durgin Park is to Boston, a restaurant where floorboards creak, the food tastes like mom’s cooking, and the breakfast counter outdates your grandfather. Gefteas and Burliss wouldn’t have it any other way. It means the building is more than bricks and wood, what even a wrecking ball can’t kill.” — Lowell Sun (9/5/2008)
Chelmsford like many small towns came equipped with their own tourist gift shop where you could buy a postcard to write back to relatives on your visit. Local attractions included the Chelmsford Twin Drive In, Alpine Lanes, Bowlarama in the center, and Courthouse Racquetball Club that hosted the Chelmsford Bowling Team. Many Saturdays would be spent drag racing at Wheel’s & Deals, and you had Chelmsford Auto Parts in the center. There were local night clubs like Thunderbird Lounge, Chevy’s Dancing Hall, The Commodore, and The Rocks. Every child took a trip down to Rollies, Ericson’s famous penny candies, buy a bike at Bill N Andy’s toy store, and ride on down for fun on Edwards Beach. You would have been a fool not to try the the chocolates at Nelson’s Candy. Rose and Rub at the old “Mill House” served the best gigantic jelly donuts and buttermilk biscuits.
If you wanted a bite to eat you just had to meetup at Skip’s Diner which became a cultural beacon attracting artists and transients passing through the town. You had the Fiske House serving country meals, and the Town Meeting where all the local politicians would meet to eat and make big decisions. In Chelmsford Center Jack’s Diner had the best fried clams and scallops with fresh cut fries “the real kind” drenched in fatty grease and beef tallow, along with Friendly’s everyone would meet for milkshakes after studying at the Adams library. The “famous” Glenview in North Chelmsford was serving Irish cuisine and a favorite place for a date night, and the old North Chelmsford Hardware as a staple along Vinyl Square since 1946. Another staple of the North was the Paramount Lounge where Dominick would cook you up what was called a “Western”, a New York style strip steak with great fries. The Press Club had the best Monti Christo sandwiches, Toni & Ann’s Pizza featured in the Simpsons, and of course who could forget Howard Johnson’s and where the Ground Round used to be?
Walked to Page’s from All Saints every Sunday to get the paper and have a cherry coke. Yum. Ericson’s had such a variety of penny candy. Would love to have our old town back, but that is progress for you I guess. — Barbara Mackey
Mill House still there, but the donuts are long gone and so well remembered, at just 5 cents a piece! We hit Ericson’s Penny Candy, Friendly’s and Mill House. We would walk a mile to enjoy one of the 3 on any given day. Great memories. Wish we still had our little town. — Gail Smaldone
It is not well known that Chelmsford was once the Massachusetts headquarters for the Hell’s Angels which became known as “Lion’s Den”. On a hot summer night you could peer into a smoke filled room lit by a black and white television set at the tiny house on top of the hill on North Road where they had setup camp. Chelmsford High School would eventually adopt the Lion as their mascot from the school’s bike club. Bikers would meet up every weekend at the Bucket Of Blood saloon or Meadow’s Lounge that used to exist on Vinyl Square, then overwhelming the Sunoco station on Drum hill and terrifying McDonald’s. You wouldn’t be caught dead there after the sun went down. Chelmsford also once had one of the Odd Fellows Fraternity headquarters directly in the Center dating back to 1895, where locals gathered many of nights to hear live music and drink draft beer as old friends and family reminisced. These are just some of the stories that made up the culture and character of a once tight knit community that was almost shielded from the outside world. A bygone era that was almost too good to last. Between people moving here, or even the farmers’ kids not wanting to be farmers but choosing to sell the land or simply wanting to modernize the town, it was bound to evolve away from the sleepy farm town. It’s the nature of the human beast. It was change that was inevitable.
Ch. 1: An Era Of Budget Cuts
“I love Chelmsford but am saddened by the appearance of the Center (in many locations) and the bad impression it must give to some visiting our great town for the first time.” — Steve Chelmsford (local radio host)
In recent years the town had witnessed a large form of disinvestment they had never witnessed before. Disinvestment is a phenomenon where the owner of land holds onto property they don’t actually live on until the land value goes up, so the property itself can simply be sold for the land value devoid of industry. What was once an agricultural and industrial based town is today more of a bedroom community for people who work in bigger cities like Burlington and Nashua. In the morning, you’ll see a line of cars leaving town and, at night, you’ll see a line of cars coming back. Businesses of the past had began pulling out one by one as the factories of North Chelmsford, and stretches of farmland in South Chelmsford that paid a large chunk of the town’s taxes that the majority of the homes and buildings in the center revolved around began drying up as we entered the turn of the century. We saw the properties being built change from farm houses and victorians to ranches and condos. Many small mom and pop shops that used to make up our town center have since been left abandoned and the pandemic hit us like everyone else. At the same time the population of Chelmsford continued to increase rapidly as we kept building housing development, without the public amenities and resources anymore to back up what was happening. As with most small towns, there is a long story for how it got that way.
In 1951 the 100 year old train station was demolished ending passenger service that ran through Chelmsford Center that now makes up the Bruce Freeman Trail, and never replaced with any other form of public transportation. For most of our town’s history we had two newspapers. By the mid 1980s the Chelmsford Newsweekly was discontinued and investigators and writers laid off. Many of them went onto work for the Lowell Sun as some of their best writers going into the 21st century. By 2002 the Chelmsford Independent was purchased by Gannett Company based in Virginia, and printed newspapers with free delivery was discontinued. By 1976 Chelmsford had considered removing their high school swim team facing serious budget cuts to education heading into the Reagan years.
“There was a large amount of money in the athletic budget for towels, which he called a “luxury”. My daughter has been swimming for nine years and carries her own towels. The swim team was not a luxury but an opportunity for students to compete for their school.” — Lowell Sun (4/27/1976)
At Chelmsford’s industrial peak during the early to mid century there were eleven elementary schools, three junior high schools, and two high schools. When North School burned down from a major fire on Groton Road in 1981 a school was never rebuilt and replaced with the current Senior Center in 1975. Quessy School built in the 19th century was raised for housing. East School in East Chelmsford became a Boy Scouts headquarters and Highlands in North Chelmsford were raised for commercial housing. Susan B. McFarlin was raised, and the section of the town’s “old high school” was eventually adopted as the town hall after the town voted down building a new one. Westlands was the last school to close down in 2008 sending hundreds of kids to the already overcrowded Center School. The second Princeton Street high school and “Yellow Schoolhouse” in North Chelmsford was raised in 1952 to build a fire station after North Chelmsford seceded from their fire services and became their own village. The 75 year old Juvenile Academy closed down in 1973 after a federal investigation into the treatment of the juveniles following a series of suicides that took place. The victorian age buildings now sit abandoned on the corner of Princeton Street with no buyers.
All of this was a movement of consolidation of schools under one roof to cut down on staffing and cost. In 1976 and 1977 the community saw a record high tax raise on property to address loss of industry, which caused factory workers and farmers to move out in droves. In a Lowell Sun report in October of 1977, it was shown that over half of Chelmsford’s school system staff lived outside of the town, and 10% lived out of the state entirely contributing no taxes to Chelmsford Public Schools or the state. This after the town voted against mandatory residency requirements. Many had argued that public workers and union members should have to live in the community in which they work, similar to the rules the police force have to follow.
“The residency issue has combined with the question of the proper place to lay the blame for this year’s record of high tax rise as the two main sources of convention between the two boards, with the election initiating the criticism and two members of the school committee responding in anger.” — Lowell Sun (10/12/1977)
Despite the population of the town more than doubling since the year 1960, the number of schools have been relatively cut in half, and the schools were built when the town had a population that was half the size. The community has a reputation for having amongst the best test scores in the entire region, but that is when we’re talking about high school. Class sizes in primary education are now regularly over 35 students, as we saw a reduction of art, mathematics and social studies teacher positions. Until the year 2017 Chelmsford was one of the few school districts in the country without full day kindergarten. Chelmsford’s least oldest elementary school was built in 1969. Our youngest junior high school was built in 1964 out of an abandoned Cold War shelter, so all of the classrooms were built underground. To this day three of the schools have never been renovated. We never had our own public community pool. Until 2010, we had the title of being known as one of the only high schools in the country without a performing arts center for over four decades. Instead of focusing on primary education, the town spent money on a two hundred thousand dollar assessment to build a new high school that was never completed or built after a chunk of the funds were diverted and used by the town for building modular classrooms at the elementary and middle schools. Even though the high school is a relatively new building which completed construction by the end of the 1970s, and was recently renovated as of 2006, and even looking past a twenty years the study showed high school classrooms will still be undersized. Our other schools which have been neglected are in not so much good shape.
In the 1970s when the Chelmsford population doubled during the baby boom, the town built a new junior high, new high school, four new elementary schools, and brand new sidewalks so the new kids could walk to school. In recent years we still have the same size schools that we had almost fifty years ago but the town population has risen by 6,000 since 1970. In order to handle the overcrowding the school board resulted in using modular classrooms on wheels called “portables” as a temporary means until new schools were built. Twenty two portable classrooms were purchased in the last decade to be used on the middle schools and all four elementary schools, made by a local company Triumph Modular based out of Billerica and owned by the Cort family. Chelmsford Department of Public Works Director is seen in an advertisement on the company’s website. Albeit they have seen great improvements in the past decade over the first ones that were installed, the new schools were never built even though the town budgeted for their assessment and today they remain a permanent fixture of the elementary and middle schools. In one year during the winter and summer months school had been cancelled when the temperatures inside the portables had became dangerously cold and hot. In the past you would regularly find staff roaming the hallways with laser temperature readers to inspect for dangerous levels.
*This is true. Modular classrooms are used not just in Chelmsford but in many communities, to house more children and handle overcrowding in school systems. With Chelmsford’s increase in population there requires more room. Also, various designs have been used over the years. Some that are truly portable and others which have a permanent cement foundation. Town Manager Paul Cohen explains that each time the town has applied to the State for funding to construct a new school, it has been denied, and that the town has done a great job maintaining its school buildings. This is all very true, and at the same time it should be showcased that modular classrooms are a necessary evil but unfortunate at that. It further showcases how the town of Chelmsford has increased in population in recent decades, and the story of how the town has handled education with limited resources should be viewed as an accomplishment but a reality which should be examined.
“I believe Dr. Lang said how critical it was that we get rid of the existing modular classrooms, the modular classrooms that we were replacing electrical units on because the heating issues could not be replaced otherwise. We still have those classrooms, and we still have those modular classrooms for several years to come. Those classrooms were 22 degrees, I don’t even want to get into that.” — Selectwoman Laura Merrill (3/27/2017)
Selectwoman Laura Merrill stated her method to voting is that she doesn’t look at things as once article, she doesn’t look at things as one issue, she looks at the big picture. Three years ago they started with the school having a major budget crisis, and town meeting had to come up with $800,000. The next year it had to be asked for another $500,000 because that wasn’t enough. Doctor Lang came in and it was going to be okay but they had to adjust his budget up again well over the standard increase so he could keep up with the current spending. Then they were asked for $200,000 for an assessment, and then they were asked for another $40,000 to complete the assessment that should have been completed with the $200,000, as funds were diverted from that process so that Chelmsford could get modulars. It was reported they originally needed eight classrooms, but over the few weeks that transpired it went all the way up to 22 classrooms. The town built an entire school of modular classrooms, when they had originally voted for the original quarter of a million dollars to study building a new high school. Merrill reported during the interview she had heard several comments form school committee members that have really been shocking to her over the years. She told us just last month she had one school committee member say, we don’t really need all of it but why not go for it all? One member of the school committee was a year after having these meetings, reportedly saying they should be selling off schools that were still being paid for by MSBA funds for several years to come. When it was asked to the Superintendent what would be the consequence of selling a school that still had a grant on it, his response was, “we did it in Lowell and they never came back to get their money.”
For most of Chelmsford’s history the Junior High and High School classes would take various field trips around the world. Eight graders for their final year of Junior High would be awarded with a two week trip to Quebec or Toronto which was mostly paid for by the school as we took a bus being so close to the Canadian border. Many students would sit in awe at the site of Niagara Falls, and I still remember they would leave us alone to walk around and explore the city shops and streets by ourselves. The city of Boston we would frequently visit to learn about our state’s history, and when we reached the North End they would let us wander off across the city to explore by ourselves. The ninth grade High School class had the tradition of taking their annual trip to Washington DC to tour the White House and Capital Building. The tours would be guided by our local Senators and Congressman. Some more memories would be going to the Hood Factory in Boston, and the Museum of Fine Arts in New York City for French 1 used to be a popular destination. The French and Spanish teacher Ms. Meyers would bring the kiddos on their annual trip to tour Spain and France. The Museum of Science and The Aquarium in Boston would always be a hot destination.
Starting back in 1965 the Chelmsford Parker Junior High started a camping tradition known as “Ed Camp” that began at camp Bournedal in Plymouth, and later on Camp Resolute in Bolton. Many you ask will have memories of stuffing gas lanterns, packing school busses full of sleeping bags and tents, and canned foods and supplies. As a volunteer I have fond memories of crawling underneath the crawlspace and tunnels of the Parker School where our curious minds would come across old artifacts from centuries past. After a 30 minute bus ride where you may stop along the way for a bite to eat at McDonalds or Burger King, we would make our way to our camp bases. The boys would be separated from the girls for the entire time. It would be on first arrival where we got to meet our camp instructors, and throughout the week students would be involved in intense team building activities from swimming, tree climbing, hunting techniques, and hiking walks. Survival techniques like tying and cutting ropes, edible plants, and starting fires, along with weight lifting contests. Art activities included painting classes, scenic poetry, bird watching, music lessons where the students got to perform in a band. The students also learned to cook, and there would be various volunteer stations. Each student was required to put in a certain number of hours in community service such as mending the kitchen or cleaning the restrooms, and in the the morning we would make our beds as a camp instructor walked in for an inspection.
“High school class of ’78 went to Washington D.C. for out class trip! I remember feeling grown up staying in hotel with friends from school. I remember buying a whole new wardrobe just for the trip. Was a blast!” — Susan Stas
When the sun started to set it would be a special time when we would light our fires and sit around the camp fire and the teachers would tell ghost stories. Everyone would be responsible to finding their way back to their tents by a certain hour of the night. We would be given a weekly schedule to follow and a trumpet would wake everyone up for a rise and shine early morning at 6:30 where we would shower and get dressed. Above is a photograph of one of the last trips made up to camp Resolute, and the memories of volunteering and helping the school I will never forget, as well as our trips to Canada. By the year 2010 during the Great Recession, teachers went to the union offices in the town of Chelmsford that pressured the School Committee under Don Yeoman’s tenure they would not be volunteering their chaperone time for free unless they got a pay raise. Many teachers felt insulted at the town’s proposal to cut back on education pensions for teachers and went on a strike. After their contracts were finally renewed and they had reached an agreement, the town never brought back many of these field trips outside of the state. The camping trips finally came to a close that year ending a forty five year tradition with the school, after it was “found” that gas lanterns proposed an unsafe carbon monoxide risk and fire hazard. At least that was the official explanation given to parents for cancelling on such short notice.
“I am writing in order to defend my fellow seventh- and eighth-grade Parker Middle School teachers whose personal decisions not to partake in two separate multi-day-and-night field trips, to Ed Camp and Quebec respectively, were called into question by the Chelmsford School Committee in a letter to me. Besides being rude to suggest what individuals do with their own personal time, the school committee’s politically motivated public airing of our decision not to proceed with the planning of the trips is both callous and disingenuous. One hopes the school committee has been more reflective and forthright than this at the bargaining table. In terms of Quebec, though there were various other factors and considerations for canceling the trip — some of which have been mulled over for years — our final verdict “not to proceed with the planning of these trips” rested on the fact that we have worked well over a year without a successor contract.” — Chelmsford Independent (11/5/2010)
Chelmsford School District under Frank Tiano’s leadership would go on to make another series of major budget cuts to staffing. 2011 would be the year that Chelmsford outsourced janitorial work for the first time by firing the town’s union janitors and outsourcing to prison labor contractor Aramark, on the promise that it would save the town a quarter of a million from the budget. This received much controversy after a series of thefts of student and school property, and a convicted child sex offender accidentally getting past a background screening. The perceived savings was based on the belief that the company would be covering the costs of supplies, until it was found out after the fact that the town would still be responsible for buying supplies. According to the Lowell Sun, because the town’s payout compensation for firing custodians did not include accumulated sick hours, an unfair-labor-practice was filed and they were forced to pay a twenty thousand dollar settlement in 2013 out of Massachusetts state court. After unemployment compensation was included along with supplies, the saving became close to non existent. There are today yearly complaints of unsanitary bathrooms, uncompleted projects, and not clearing snow in a timely manner.
*To be fair and understandable, this is a common theme when formally rural towns face a series of budget cuts and struggle to maintain order. Privatization is a common occurrence throughout the nation. It means that the town had no other choice facing harder economic times. This was following a major recession in the mid 2000s and a much larger strain on the free lunch program which had never been utilized before. The town had to adapt and it took a long time to get things right. This again shows resilience and strength in a community that fought the battle to stay relevant during hard economic times. It’s a fascinating dialog and debate when reading old town manuscripts and meetings.
Questions rise on outsourced janitorial work
“I have a serious problem with the theft of taxpayer funded town assets. I believe the decision to outsource was a huge mistake that we are all paying for every day.” — Town Finance Director John Sousa
“I reluctantly voted for outsourcing because the savings appeared to be significant. I was under the impression Aramark would provide all of the supplies and equipment necessary for the performance of the services, which is in the contract. Why have the cost of supplies remained in the school budget.” — School Committee Secretary Evelyn Thoren
During the same year the school district decided to make major cuts by contracting out the food services by firing the union school lunch staff, changing from meals that were made from scratch to pre-prepared frozen food by an outside company after the retirement of Director Of Food Services John Morgan. This was after the town accepted federal funding to provide free lunch for all those who needed it under the Obama administration which had a negative effect on some more rural schools. Students stopped buying lunch and school’s income dropped significantly. After schools opened up after the pandemic, the town adopted a policy which prevented them from preparing hot meals to students. Many parents have taken to social media and had written in complaints of their child being exposed to expired food, breads and meats still frozen and too hard to eat, and frequently running out of food before the day is over. Apparently because of staffing and shipping shortages, some parents explained the response they were given was that there was no way to possibly heat up food after the pandemic. This food was provided as free service from a federal program, not by the schools. These reported problems did not happen in any other surrounding district.
“My sons at McCarthy. Many days he came home starving. He told me the milk was spoiled the sandwich rubber and fruit frozen. Poor kid. I’m making his lunches from now on. It’s very disappointing.” — Anonymous
“My son tells me about his lunch and how he only ate the Cheezits or the pretzels because the milk was warm and the cheese looked moldy and things seemed the wrong color. I thought it was just him being picky Guess we will start packing lunch.” — Anonymous
Another program that had received major budget cuts was Chelmsford’s Special Education Department over the recent decades. With schools that had quickly become overcrowded the program was now getting more selective of who they would allow into the classroom setting. Some may describe an IEP in these parts of the Northeast like a golden ticket from Willy Wonka himself. Growing up I was a problem child that had a disability from so called Attention Deficit Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It became apparent when the students around me had completed their test and I was only on the first problem. Teachers had quickly began to notify my parents that I needed help, but the school principal would not allow it. It’s a good thing my parents could afford a good lawyer and child psychiatrist. We ended up taking the school district to court with teachers I will never forget advocating for me. It’s not something I ever took personally because I understood, we had a serious crisis when it came to overcrowding.
In many big cities and much larger towns which are awarded more resources from both the state and federal government, they have a better grasp at properly handling the influx of greater students but that support never came to Chelmsford. It’s almost a given that every resident with special needs children should hire an advocate in order to defend their case. This will involve getting your child tested again. I can recall many students that needed help that didn’t get any. There was one student I felt really bad about who came from Foster Care. She was an abuse victim and she had major anger management problems. Her name was Elaine and she would bring ropes and various knives to school and try and strangle students by their neck including an incident with yours truly, but she was never removed or given help in a different era. As school shootings have been on the rise in recent history we are starting to take these incidences more seriously. It’s common for IEP’s from other school districts not to be fully honored in smaller towns. There is not that guarantee because the budget may not have much of a choice. It came to a crashing halt in recent decades when an incident at the Harrington Elementary School was brought to the forefront of a Teacher’s Union dispute when teachers walked off the job in fear of their safety.
In that year a handful of teachers voiced their concern against the school committee for not addressing the needs of a special needs student at Harrington who was attacking other staff and students in violent outbursts and not getting the help he deserved. This followed a gigantic uproar in which Superintendent Lang went on a union busting renegade that forced President of the Chelmsford Chapter (CFT) of the American Federation of Teachers into resignation from her teaching job for advocating for a special needs child and voicing concern about school budget cuts. The town had just about reached its boiling point at the December School Committee Meeting when hundreds gathered in protest outside of the town hall where police had to be called down when the community started pounding on the door. This was a very intense moment in Chelmsford’s local politics.
“The ball has been dropped by this administration greatly. You guys have failed our kids. My daughter specifically has told me she is scared to go to class. I have addressed this time and time again with the principal and I was brushed off. It’s clearly not under control. This has been an awful experience. At this point I’d rather put her in a private school somewhere else because I have no faith in this administration.” — Meghan Stanton
“It’s infuriating. My two kids have both been on IEP‘s since they started school and in Boston they were on point about everything. I understand they have more resources and are a larger school district but they also have to cater to more students and I never had the issues that I have encountered with Chelmsford and never thought I would. Part of moving here was that I was told that this was a great school district to be a part of and they are proving time and time again that it’s not.” — Anonymous
Education has not been the only challenge today. The town’s basic utilities such as electricity and water system struggled to keep a handle on the influx of new residents moving into the once small town. Starting in the year 2000 the town began introducing water bans during the summer in regards to conservation measures, when the district began working with a new citizens group, Conserve Our Water, spearheaded by Thomas St. Germain. This was to address a reduction in water pressure. Even though the town population had grown large enough to become a city, town officials voted down a plan to purchase water supply from the Merrimack River explaining that it would be too expensive. Their alternative was a proposal in 1999 to drill six new wells into the Cranberry Bog Reservation, a thriving wildlife habitat. The Chelmsford Water District after intense public scrutiny campaigns over concerns to wildlife withdrew the proposal, and no plans to use the location for pump wells for the town were ever brought up again.
“Soon after moving to Chelmsford last may, Leo Manning Jr. was greeted with a watering ban that he says killed his perennial gardens. He also says that he might have house-hunted elsewhere had he known of the water problems in town.” — Boston Globe (3/23/2000)
“There were a few times when the water pressure might have dropped below the level needed for firefighting.” — Superintendent Robert Doak (3/23/2000)
“We’ve lived here for over 20 years, and water pressure gets less every summer. Yes I’ve replaced the supply into my house so it’s not a supply line to my house issue. It is a supply and deliver issue. This is just going to add to that unless something else is done. “ — Peter Schulz (1/13/2021)
With the increased understanding of presence around the bogs themselves partially owned by Carlisle and partially owned by Chelmsford to use as drinking water, the two districts began weeding out cranberry farmers. Beginning in 1903 the towns of Carlisle and Chelmsford marked down their calendar every October for their annual cranberry harvest. Visitors would stroll on the 310 acre public paths that circle the bog and cross it on dikes to watch the Nickles Brothers operation as waterpickers flooded the bog and loosened the berries from their stems. Back when Cranberry was king in Massachusetts you had the Lowell Cranberry Company, which the bog was purchased by the towns of Chelmsford and Carlisle in 1986 with the original plan of preserving the farming tradition. You would frequently see Tamma Duffy on a display table with her plastic bags of fresh whole berries and jars of honey from the 22 beehives they kept to pollinate the cranberry plants. You could see Puerto Rican pickers brought up from the Cape who worked across the main canal, right about the time the old cranberry scoops were being phased out and the automatic berry pickers were introduced to the industries.
“In 1960 or ’61 when I was about 11 or 12 or so, I got a job picking (or, rather scooping) cranberries at the cranberry bog in Carlisle with my friend who lived next door to me in South Chelmsford. We got a whopping fifty cents a bushel box and would work all day for about four bucks!“ — Ray Tuck
However because the land was now considered and protected by the town and state as conservation wetland territory, it now had to adhere to new standards. In 1994 the Boston Globe reported the Duffy family’s operations had been shut down by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, after it was determined that 20 foot by 600 foot dike Duffy had built for his “wet harvest” was a water pollution threat because it was built out of demolition debris donated by a local building contractor. The Chelmsford farmers were fined $25,000 a day until the setup was removed from the waterway. This was right after the family had already placed signifiant personal funds into the businesses to rebuild the failing cranberry bog that was in enormous disrepair, and it was reported that for a few years his profits were below the cost of production. Following this was the green light for the town to target the land as a potential site for the field wells.
“State commissioner of agriculture, Jonathan L. Healy, has questioned whether the Department of Environmental Protection can unilaterally halt a profitable farming business since closure of the dike would mean an end to the bog’s operation.” — Boston Globe (10/30/1994)
These actions brought down the last of remaining major farming operations in Chelmsford, the result of a national trend of environmental agencies taking a harder look at farms as a potential source of pollution. This was the beginning of setting up the first of protected wetlands in the surrounding community which were supposed to be off limits to development, as the town did not renew Duffy’s ten year license and the family subsequently moved away.
“The wells would have drawn from the ground water beneath the reservoir, which would have had an effect on the bog and the reservoir. Due to intense opposition, however, the Chelmsford Water District withdrew the proposal. — Coordinator Andrew Sheehan (10/23/2003)
Another concern over the past decade was Chelmsford’s as well as Littleton’s notoriously high levels of PFAS the “forever chemical” found in Chelmsford’s drinking water supply at levels 32 times higher than the state’s mandated safe guidelines. Problem is Chelmsford as a small town itself has three separate water districts after North Chelmsford made the decision to separate from the official municipal supply over a feud that happened a century ago. This created a huge problem in enforcing unilateral regulation in the same town.
“Of the three sites tested in the area again two weeks ago, the highest reading was found to be 657 parts per trillion in one monitoring well, which falls above the state guideline of 20 parts per trillion.” — Lowell Sun (1/28/2021)
In March of 2021 the Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker awarded Chelmsford with close to quarter of a million dollars in emergency funding to address the PFAS contamination in our drinking water supply. The major issue is that many of the sites that tested for high levels are located in North Chelmsford. The funding is only being awarded to the Chelmsford Water District which excludes all of North and East Chelmsford. There is a history of this happening and the turmoil runs deep and bitter among long time residents who know how rare it is to witness equal treatment.
“To this day, when we’ve talked about merging the water districts and consolidating the water commissions, people will point back to 1912. We’re still fighting battles from almost 100 years ago and we’re paying a great price.” — Congressman Stephen Lynch (8/07/2005)
Water supply has not been the only debated utility that often leads to heated arguments amongst the locals. Heading into the early 1990’s Massachusetts was just leaving four terms of the Dukakis administration. For an entire decade after we saw the rise of Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci, the Bay State’s first two term Republican Governors in more than 30 years. It was during this era that a policy of energy deregulation was pursued in the state by 1997, and this is when Lowell Gas, Boston Gas, and Boston Edison folded. This was an era where the corporate conglomerate National Grid headquartered in London stepped into the Bay State and began taking over operations, a step towards what was supposed to reduce energy costs for Baystaters. Today National Grid currently serves over half of Massachusetts communities, and one of those communities is Chelmsford. In 1987 under Boston Edison a project of moving the town’s electrification underground began as the town population doubled in one decade and the aging electrical infrastructure was having a hard time keeping up. The town began funding the project by placing a surcharge on residents utility bills and Verizon landline telephone service. Well as we entered the 21st century as you can imagine the popularity among landline subscriptions started to dwindle and project funds dried up.
“We have lived in Chelmsford for a little over a year now. We have lost power here more than we ever lost it living in Lynn for 18 years. What’s the deal? Guess we will need to invest in a generator like the rest of the neighborhood. — Christina Servideo
“I have lost power more times in the 5 years since I’ve lived here than I did in the 25 years I lived in Florida, it’s ridiculous, the wind isn’t even that bad today!” — Crystal Stewart
A headline reported in March of 2012 in the Chelmsford Patch was titled “Underground Utility Project is Ahead of Schedule”. At the turn of the second decade of the 21st century, only power lines from Fletcher Street to the common on North Road totaling one mile had been completed. National Grid unofficially abandoned the project and residents are still paying a surcharge for a failed promise that was never completed for the residents of the town. As Chelmsford’s power grid continues to age getting a full house generator installed is often a necessity in many neighborhoods rather than an exception. Some examples of towns that went underground are Concord, Wellesley, Bedford, Duxbury, Nantucket, Holden, Needham, North Andover, and Westwood. There are no longer any plans to complete the power line project as funding as been eliminated. The only progress that was made was in the area where a land developer wanted to build a condominium.
Ch. 2: Condos, Condos, & More Condos
Chelmsford’s original town motto is “let the children guard what the sires have won”. A town can be changed easily when people from a different area move in. People want to leave where they are and move to someplace different and then, try to make the new place exactly like the old one they wanted to leave. When the farms began to be sold off and New York developers came in to build on quarter acre lots or smaller, it was a difficult time. They moved to Chelmsford because it was quaint, low taxes, safe haven. Then, they wanted paved roads (or at least oiled), a permanent Police Department (was the Chief and ONE officer for night the rest were volunteer) a permanent Fire Dept (was volunteer). People showed up to a firehouse directed by the fire whistle and took the truck to the fire), from four room schools to big schools, sidewalks, businesses, movie theaters, bowling alleys, these “city people” wanted all the activity from the city and were otherwise bored. They knocked things down and “improved” things as they had no long-term connection to the town or it’s history. “Make it Modern, update it!” Residents who could trace their families back 300 years in Chelmsford could no longer afford the taxes because of all the “improvements”. Things that were done with a handshake were now legal nightmares. Conversations (or sometimes a punch in the nose) to settle differences were now court battles. At first, it was a “wild west” kind of invasion. New York developers did things “because there is no law against it” when before it was just courtesy. So, lots of things had to be put into law in attempt to save Chelmsford’s heritage and tradition from the all mighty dollar.
Out of the rubble and chaos of progress there remained the Chelmsford Historical Society, a mostly volunteer non-profit organization that was put together in 1930 with a sole mission dedicated to preserving what remained of Chelmsford’s story and history in the community. It began with many townies such as Harriet Bartlett, Margaret Mills, Janet Lombard and others who worked hard to preserve the dying vestiges of a changing farming town. Today they are headquartered at the The Barrett-Byam Homestead, constructed in 1663 with a legacy predating the Salem Witch Trials when Martha Barrett a local Chelmsford resident was placed behind bars on witchcraft charges. By 1970 it was finally turned into a museum after Charles and Ida Byam sold it back to the town in 1944. One can find a fire going in one of the five fireplaces, with spinning and quilling wheels, butter churns, a cheese press, and tin and woodenware to boot. In 1959 a local realtor who purchased a large acreage of land for development gifted the Chelmsford Old Garrison House to the historical commission which was a home dating back to before 1690. It was rumored to be a “fortified Garrison” that shielded the first settlers from attacks from local indigenous tribes when they first arrived. Along with the blacksmith shop that was donated by Chelmsford resident Elenore Parkhurst, thousands of school children from New England flock to the grounds every year and become “colonial children” for the day, learning candle and soap making, and other craft of the period from volunteers.
During the 1960s through the 1970s you had many developers moving into the town during the colonial revival period to take advantage of the housing boom. In just one decade the new population coming off the Interstate System settled down and doubled the population of the town as they had families. We needed housing and Chelmsford had plenty of wide open farmland. In 1961 alone, nearly 500 new homes were built and 28 new streets were established. You had developers like Campanelli Brothers who built a lot of the ranches and splits you will find throughout the town. Then you had the infamous Robert Hicks homes who at one time ranked second in new construction volume for all of Massachusetts. He built the capes, garrison colonials, gambrels, and farm houses and made complete neighborhoods out of barren forests. However he too was a local developer that lived in Chelmsford and had a connection to the town and kept a certain responsibility to the community, including being a contributor to the historical committee and helped with many projects that revived parks and our library.
In 1973 Charlie Parlee undertook the restoration of a dilapidated farm house on Pine Hill to its early configuration when new developers were bidding on the land. Much of the original hardware inside had been removed (without permission) prior to anticipated demolition. Charlie stepped it at the last moment and saved it for the town. Some of the hardware and other items were voluntarily returned. The Parlees spent significant time tracking down correct original hardware including hinges, latches, etc. by scouring New England especially seeking sites where buildings had burned to the ground. During this time period Chelmsford setup their first historic district in 1975 out of the center of their town, to protect what they called the “New England charm” and they called it the Central Square Historic District. When this was first created the town was rather strict on enforcement, and had a substantial amount of funding to defend their cases in court. One of their first disputes was when local resident Raymond Carye wanted to add on 10 parking spaces to a parcel of land he owned on Worthen Street in that year. The committee voted in a 4–1 vote not to approve the new parking lot and took the case to Superior Court, where they ultimately lost but they still put up a fight. That piece of land now makes up the Blake Funeral Home. In 1977 the commission would not approve the new bank that wanted to go in on Billerica Road until they limited their construction to two teller windows instead of three, and change their design to include a sloping roof with an added cupola.
Historic commissions are empowered to approve or deny requests for certificates of appropriateness, or permits for alterations on property within their jurisdiction. In 1980 The town center was recognized by the National Register. The town established its Master Plan Committee on the town’s planning board in 1996 which originally required the voting power to include a “regular citizen” who had lived in the town for some time, and established seven historic neighborhoods and villages to recognize their history to the community. As we head into the turn of the century though we started to enter the era of what could be described as the McMansion movement, and an increase in out of state developers moving in to seek permits for the erection massive housing complexes on previously developed lots.
“We believe that if the town is not careful, and continues with current trends, there exists a significant potential for increased urbanization that will have a negative effect upon the town. This would likely result in a degradation of our community’s quality of life, character, services and financial well being.” — Chelmsford Master Plan Committee (2010 Statement)
In the 1980s the town had received its first refurbishment project that was done on the Adams Library, Chelmsford’s own public library that was built by a member of the Adams family in 1894. The Library Committee was made up of a lot of “later to town” people that many residents suggested were forced on the community, after it was decided that instead of building a new second library at a different location they would renovate the historic Adams. This set off a legal battle that lasted two decades. In order for the town to be awarded a new $3.9 million state grant for a new addition that would modernize the town, the 200 year old Scoboria and Dutton homes would have to be demolished. The town’s people were not willing to take that as an answer, after it was sold by the town to local residents for a dollar.
“It was so sad to see that they painted the inside of Dr. Scoboria’s house/office. All that beautiful woodwork. Then, tore it down. THAT was a beautiful house next door to the Adam’s Library. “ — Bill Giers
“We were so excited to see all the trucks when we got here this morning. It has taken us a long time to get to this point. I can’t believe this day is finally here.” — Linda DeYoung
This would go down as the first time the town had put the money together to save a home. It was a good feeling on a cool early Thursday morning. Early morning drivers were the first to realize something big was about to take place in the center of the town. In spring of 1998 after four unsuccessful attempts Linda DeYoung and her husband Doug Marlow were finally able to watch the Children’s House move from its former home on Bartlett Street. The process began at 7 a.m when traffic from Routes 4 and 27 was redirected from the work site. Utility wires were removed from the poles and Chelmsford residents were left without power for the day. Although the total trip was less than a mile long it took an entire day to complete. The former Children’s Library would be cut in half and moved up off High St. The couple reported in the Lowell Sun they would restore the Children’s House to its originals state, having collected an abundance of historic photos which would be used in the process. The Dutton house on the other hand could not be saved and was torn down completely. All the old artifacts — paintings, display cases, etc from old library was dumped at Historical Society.
The first affordable housing complex that began in Chelmsford which threatened the town’s history was in 2004 known as the Robin Hill Meadows Project, when Emanouil builders wanted to construct 20 detached condominiums through Chapter 40B. This involved the threatened demolition of the 200 year old Reverend Parkhurst House after the builders from outside of Chelmsford took their case to the zoning board of appeals. This was at a time period when Chelmsford was still significantly funding housing renewal and saving projects through their historical commission, and the town community put up a fight to prevent it from being demolished. Under Chelmsford Historical Commission ran by members Jane Drury, Linda Prescott, and Torry Gullion successfully fought for the state Community Preservation Act adopted by Chelmsford in 2001, which could provide funding to protect and restore Chelmsford’s older home.
“The conference started badly, according to those in attendance, with a contentious back-and-forth between residents, builder Charles Emanouil and Emanouil’s lawyer, Douglas Hausler.” — Lowell Sun (8/13/2004)
Yet again in the same year we started to witness a new interest in previously developed land in the Chelmsford Historic Center. In 2004 the Garrison House Association a non profit dedicated to saving historic architecture in Chelmsford was encompassed with it’s largest project ever taken on, when the historic Hill “Trooper” Jock House built in 1756 located on Boston Road was in danger of getting the wrecking ball by an outside developer who wanted the land to build two much larger homes that were three times the size and could be sold for a lot more than a rotted out “little old” farm house on the hill. The Historic Commission put up a fight, and in a collective effort the town pooled donations for a bold idea that would involve lifting the 250 year old structure out of the ground and relocating it next to the Old Garrison House museum. It cost $100,000 and the trip took 4.5 miles, as traffic was shut down for 12 hours as it made its way through town with hundreds cheering on. The building was supposed to turn into a museum when the town ran out of funding, and today it stands quietly waiting for someone to give it the love it may deserve. It represented an incredible community effort but also the last time Chelmsford would go to such length to defend and save one of their original homes. If not for a developer willing to wait a few months to get his work under way and a historical association at the time with some cash on hand with a need for extra space, the historic Hill Jock House might be a pile of dust right now.
“I was told the Board thinks there is zero community value in the site and it might be better sold off and the very large endowment used for other things. This was unique to Chelmsford and soon will only be on a postcard or photo like a lot of our history.” — COSS (Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship)
Despite the promises of turning the Hill Jock home into a multipurpose building, housing display space and office space, as well as for hosting meetings, today it sits in its new location in a dilapidated state after the town ran out of funding. A similar project was taken up by the adjacent town of Westford in 2013 to save the Wright House on Chamberlain Road after Aldrich Farm was sold and new housing threatened to demolish it, but these efforts were few and far between. When the idea was brought up again to purchase and save the first mill of Chelmsford known as the “The Millstream” to open it up as a public museum with guided tours, the election was contested and voted down and the following one after was voted down too. The property has a long history with the local community having been owned by the original Adams family of Quincy since 1656 and until the mid 1800s. The millstream is one of the oldest historic site in the town of Chelmsford, and it came from a King’s grant known as the Adams Grant on July 3rd, 1656. It was Chelmsford’s first saw mill that was responsible for building the first properties in the community. It was found again abandoned and rotted out in the 1950s and restored on the original frame and foundation, and dam came back to be in operational condition. During the 1950s through 70s it was the site of small manufacturing companies of vacuum tubes and record players.
When an historic museum like this is added to the town’s portfolio such as the Garrison Home, the town now has to assume the responsibility of upkeep, staff and possible security. With the dam running the total upkeep of the entire property is estimated at $3 million a year. Chelmsford had already received $3.2 million in federal and state grants that was helping run this property, and are in the process of trying to collect the remaining funding back into the town budget so it can be dumped for the value of the land at the loss of history. Some estimate it would be too costly to keep the dam running on public funds and it wouldn’t make sense to transfer ownership.
Water runs strong at Chelmsford’s Millstream
“Ripsom, 84, has been the lead caretaker of the property since 2011, when longtime friend Lloyd Greene Jr. died and left it to him with the goal of maintaining it and establishing an educational and recreational facility for the enjoyment of the people of Chelmsford.” — Lowell Sun (6/25/2018)
Just in the last year the property went up for sale and it is at risk of being demolished according to the director of the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship who called it high on the “endangered list” due to lack of interest by town management. The board have had lawyers working on this for years to sell the site off. The Millstream does not accept members so there are only 3 or 4 people on the board at any given time who decide the site’s future, and they want a new trust for education not an edition center so its future with Chelmsford is bleak. Much to the sadness of the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship volunteer service, who was in the process of building a new park by the Russel Mill which property was going to serve as the entrance.
There was some small victories that we can be grateful for. In the early 2000s when a lot of this development began popping up and threatening historic architecture, the Chelmsford Historic Society successfully rallied officials to extend the delay of demolition permits which was originally much shorter than other communities at 14 days, to the 60 days where it sits today. So we had an interesting time period for awhile where hope was starting to come back. We thought we saw light at the end of the tunnel. In the last ten years there has really been a pushing of new developers running for town committees. The sole purpose of the VCOD was to allow for flexibility in zoning rules to promote redevelopment, while at the same time setting expectations within the town amongst developers and abutters for what sort of development should and would happen in the historic center district. The caveat was that it allowed for special permits or alternative compliance, which means that a project could work around the VCOD requirements but would require a supermajority on the committee to pass. It was in that same year that Joseph Ready owner of Ready Real Estate Agency in Chelmsford ran for selectmen, and was chosen as the “regular citizen” that would be allowed voting power on the planning board.
The planning board instituted density bonuses with the original intention of rewarding development that connected to public open spaces like a park. Many builders also applied for new state grants for 40B housing to bypass zoning restrictions, even if the amount of low income units on any particular property only amounted to 20%, and that’s if they don’t “expire” as affordable units. If 100 “affordable” units become market-priced, then six 100-unit developments would need to be built to reclaim the lost units. The loophole was that this inadvertently created the incentive for larger developments to move into what was previously the historic district enjoyed by the community connecting to our parks and mom & pop shops. One of those large developers moving in was Katz Group based out of Alberta Canada working with local builders Finnegan Development owned by the New England Finnegan family empire. By the old train station lot where a new pizza shop had moved in a few years prior, the board approved by a supermajority the construction of a new 32-unit four story luxury condominium nicknamed the Grist Mill on the basis that it could exceed height requirements if it were constructed with a mansard roof to match the adjacent historic buildings in the town center. One month into construction the planning board modified their decision to include a mansard roof at request of the new developer not to include one. Keep in mind the entire surrounding properties are small single family homes with a population of under 20,000 people and no upgrades to sewage.
“ They build these condos and turn over the building to the condo owners and leave commitments and unfulfilled promises that those owners then have to deal with. Plan, develop, build, sell then move on. That’s the cycle, and they do it very well in town .. I would say better than any other surrounding town.” — Phillip Stanway
“Well looks like the Glenview is going down today. Just like that our history is gone. We should rename Chelmsford to CONDO!! What a sad day.” — Michael Lynch
All of that was completed by 2020 in a period of two years. The following year the former Glenview Restaurant which had been a staple in the town community for over 60 years since 1958 decided to close up shop during the pandemic. After much speculation the original buyers of the property that had planned on keeping it a restaurant backed out and sold it to developers Page and Trahan. The construction company is owned by the family of elected Congresswomen Representative Lori Trahan, a native of Westford in the town next door. In its place will stand a 10 condo unit, and 600 condo unit from land across the street. In that same year the planning board also made final approvals for another large condominium complex on public land the town originally used for storing salt for the winter, various gravel and stone stockpile, and other road material for a fast dollar along Littleton Road. The site was labeled Beaver Brook Crossing, an 84 unit four story luxury condo complex that got 40B subsidies to build in Chelmsford, because 17 out of the 84 are affordable housing units. That was built by the Emanouil Brothers. In the year 2020 we also saw the Kinloch complex constructed, a new 168 units in four high rise buildings along Route 110, where local businesses, shops, and our bowling alley once stood in its place.
In the year 2000 the land which includes the historic Fiske House built in 1791 and the Odd Fellow Building built in 1896 went up for sale. The property was sold to a real estate firm based out of Beverly Hills, California known as Americal Management in 2000. In that time period they have left the inside of the Fiske House vacant for two decades, contributing to the field stone foundation flooding every winter and rainstorm with a serious mold problem inside, as well as structural damage on the outside. In 2019 the property management firm decided to sell their land to housing developers after the bank utilizing the space decided not to renew their lease. This was the beginning of disinvestment.
An infamous story was that the proposed project was going to Stonegate Construction based out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Their alternative compliance was originally going to be approved as their legal excuse was they could not build an underground garage on a floodplain, so they had to build the foundation above the wetland making it an extra story than the original permit they applied for which only allowed four levels. Even though the Chelmsford zoning district only allows for three levels as it is. Otherwise the proposed building would be an un-conforming plan, in an illegal building, on an illegal lot, with an illegal sewer hookup, in a town which had already seen its water pressure drop significantly because the town relies on well water instead of municipality city water hookup. On top of all of that, Central Square would now lose a significant piece of public property. When the Grist Mill complex was being proposed for approval, one of the big issues brought up was access to public parking that would be lost from building this development. The planning committee came to an agreement that parking to access the center would still be available from the community parking center. With the proposed housing complex on Billerica Road that public parking space will be going away. However these problems alone are unfortunate but not the legal argument. The legal argument is what brings about an understanding to why this is happening in the first place.
The last project had shown to be in large support by the board on the promise that the Odd Fellows will undergo a restoration and create an asset for the community. One proposal called for a new restaurant which the builders said there would be no guarantee, and because they offered up an architectural historian to refurbish the structural problems at the Fiske House which is one of the oldest homes still standing that has become an icon to our town center and the people who drive by every day. The greater concern should not be the high rise condo development that is moving in, but that the town of Chelmsford is setting a precedent in New England for political extortion in regards to historic preservation of their history. For with any future historic preservation project, will that now involve trading favors for work done to save an historic property by fast-tracking approval of special permits for new housing development that is out of compliance? For a town that has found no other way of raising enough money to protect their intellectual property in the one historic district they have, they have resorted to seeking help from outside developers who insist on moving in. This would not be questionable if there were not a handful of real estate agents sitting on the planning board and town selectman committees themselves. For this reason many in the community feel an association of the fox guarding the hen house. Does Chelmsford deserve better and if so what should be done about it?
Within weeks of the public hearing residents of Chelmsford became distraught, and a petition was started gaining 3,000 signatures in less than three days to stop the development in the historic town center. As proof that five stories were not necessary, after the Lowell Sun picked up the controversy the developer revised the plan and brought forward a 4 story 24 unit high end condominium development, instead of the former 5 story 32 unit which was still out of compliance. News of community activism spread to local new media and a pressure campaign put upon local officials represented a breaking point where residents had said enough is enough. In early February the planning board came to a vote of 4–2 against. The town’s people had won a small victory when all hope had thought to have been lost. It showcased what could be done on the local level when just a few raised their voice. It showed that we did not have to blindly accept what was happening. It was proof that democracy in the 21st century still works when you fight for it.
I spoke with the town’s Community Development Manger Evan Belansky to ask for his opinion on moving new property into historic districts. In the interview he explained to me that he felt it was about coordinating a balance between community and developers, and that the last three developments found that balance and were obvious benefits to the community. He also informed me that it is apparently illegal to consider the impact a new property will have on local schools and classroom size during considerations.
“Without flexibility in the zoning and a willingness to apply it, there would not be any significant redevelopment in Chelmsford. Just because zoning says something does not mean that the development community will agree that it makes sense for them, hence a balancing act.” — Evan Belansky (Chelmsford Community Development Director)
Now if that were the only issue in one historic district over a few parcels of land then perhaps it would not be as big of a deal. Another greater tragedy is also for the fact that Chelmsford only applied to fund and protect one historic district on the National Register and that being their center. There are a total of seven historic villages through the town full of registered historic homes, that are not protected from getting demolished or modified. Chelmsford was a town that was incorporated in 1655. The community has lost hundreds of homes over the years dating back to the 18th and 17th century to large single family lots, after buyers who originally promised to preserve them went ahead and tore them down. Many of these homes were former 18th century farm houses that are left on abandoned lots until the value of the home reaches close to the value of land, until a new builder comes along and sees a golden opportunity for more space and buys up the land for new development.
“When Cheryl Needle (now deceased) sold this home she was told her family farm house would be restored to its former grandeur. Over the years Chelmsford has lost so many of its older homes, and once they’re gone that piece of history is gone forever.” — Bernard Ready
The three big players in Chelmsford luxury housing builds today have been Coldwell Banker which has 3,000 offices in 49 countries and territories, one of those offices placed right here in Chelmsford Center. They base themselves out of New Jersey. Then you have Barrett Sotheby’s International which built a new office right in Carlisle in the town over. Their network has more than 19,000 sales associates in 990 offices in 72 countries and territories worldwide. Finally you have Century 21 which is one of the largest agencies in the country, with 9,400 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 80 countries and territories worldwide with over 127,000 sales professionals. They used to have their Chelmsford offices right across the street from Coldwell. You also have the three local small players. Era Real Estate with 15 offices in Massachusetts that took over the old Century 21 building, Lamacchia Realty with their main offices in Chelmsford serving Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, and you have the new Ready Real Estate owned by local housing mogul Joseph Ready. The motto on his building reads, “Ready, Sell, Gone”. These agencies have been known to contract with local builders such as Wescon Incorporated, EJG Properties, Maloney Properties, and Stonegate Incorporated. So far every developer which has constructed condo housing in Chelmsford has gone through the same legal firm Howard Stein Hudson on most every project. These groups have turned flipping properties into an exact science and efficient machine. Some opponents see them as vikings pillaging their way into small town communities for a quick buck, while others would say they are raising the value and assets of the community and without them we would see no development. Well maybe that is true, and if we look at the rise in property taxes and water bills every time a new project finishes then it makes sense. However you would see this is not normal when looking at the surrounding towns, and examining the way they treat new development.
A case example we can use is Carlisle, a similar small farming town right next store that touches Chelmsford. They are now the third wealthiest town in a state with 350 cities and town. In the year 2021 they have maintained a population of under 5,000 people. The 40B regulations are supposed to apply as a long as the ‘character’ of the town is preserved. Of course, the population of a town has to be taken into consideration as well, but Carlisle at about 1/5 of Chelmsford’s population, ought to have 1/5 of our new development. They don’t. It’s not for a lack of open space either. Towns like Carlisle, Harvard, Lexington, Concord, Groton, Dunstable, and Westford have amounts of open space so copious as to make surrounding communities appear to be completely congested and entirely overwrought. How could one explain what has happened to Chelmsford, Billerica, and Tewksbury?
“I have biked in every corner of Carlisle for years. Take a drive through yourself. I am sure somewhere there is a structure in that town that meets the legal compliance of 40B, but for all practical purposes, they have entirely evaded their obligations.” — Daniel Calvo
Towns like Carlisle have multiple disadvantages from Chelmsford. Everyone in Carlisle relies on well water, so any big project has to go through the ringer to make sure they won’t negatively impact neighboring wells. Many local residents may also say that because soil there is mostly rock it is unable to support large developments like condo complexes. Keep in mind that towns like Gloucester residing on the entirely rocky granite outpost of Cape Ann, have a combination of septic and sewer. They also have lots of apartment buildings. Parts of Carlisle could easily be refitted for sewer to allow for apartment dwellings in designated parts of town. Maybe the better question would be, do the residents in the town want more development? Right now in the year 2021 Carlisle has met 3% of the 40B goals of 10%. However what they have considered in compliance are actually single family homes. In order to be in actual compliance they would need to have at least 3 large apartment style 40B structures. They have zero. Chelmsford has 16 and counting.
Maybe Carlisle as well was wise enough many years ago to add on building restrictions, in which you can only build a house on what is called a ‘Pork Chop Lot’. This means they don’t have houses built on top of houses like Chelmsford does. That is not to say Chelmsford would have or should have done something so restrictive, but would it have been wise to restrict to one acre building lots 30 years ago? The result of inaction and state intervention has been that middle income communities have had much of their own ‘character’ and many of their open spaces ravaged under the guise of helping the poor but not in some communities. The declared positive result of lower income folks benefiting through subsidized units achieved in a manner so small as to be statistically negligible. Those folks were supposed to benefit in measurable quantities and in all communities; including Carlisle. The numbers touting the success of the Massachusetts 40B program are skewed as well, because it’s in the way the state defines “affordable” housing. Their definition of affordable housing is if less than a quarter is set aside. What if we raised the requirement to above 50% or more, would they still get built?
Ch. 3: What’s Next For Chelmsford’s Future?
I understand this may have been a long read but I felt as if it must be said. If you have made it this for I congratulate you for making it all the way through. I have been a resident in Chelmsford for 30 years of my life so far. My family first had roots in Chelmsford going back to the late 1930s when they rented a summer cottage by Heart Pond only then it was called. My grandparents officially moved to Chelmsford in the mid 1960s where my mother was eventually born. I began writing this short story six years ago in a notebook and also in my mind, when I started keeping track of the social and economic changes that were happening not just far away but also close to home. That is when I thought it would be incredibly unique to start asking my neighbors who have been alive for longer than I have of how they feel history has changed over the last century before I was even born. That is when I decided that taking real quotes from real residents would make a story come alive. Over the course of writing this I received much help from residents in locating old newspaper articles, and I’d like to thank all of those who were so gracious to me in sharing their life stories. For those who did not give me permission to share their name I have kept them anonymous out of respect for their privacy.
Perhaps this is why Chelmsford would go onto make a grand television appearance as the almost perfect backdrop for Simpsons town of Springfield, a fictional small town middle class community also struggling to stay relevant. In a community that was overtaken by robber baron Burns and his nuclear power racket, greasing the local mayor Quimby with his Kennedyesque accent so he can bypass environmental and safety rules with his special prize; what’s in the box? The scenario exemplified in the Springfield versus the more affluent Shelbyville civil war that runs strong. You have Springfield Elementary School modeled after Chelmsford’s McCarthy Junior High, a school that is overcrowded because of insufficient funds to build more classrooms. Smoking teachers like the old high school “smoking lounge”. The disabled ramp access system constructed by the local mafia. The village drunk and the overzealous police force led by Wiggum. Anyone who remembers the name Dickey Adams knows what I’m talking about. Every cliche of a small town struggling to find its future purpose wrapped up into a cartoon sitcom.
The Summer of 2007 was an exciting year for our small community. The creators of the Simpsons were visiting our public library but what for? It was there I met Lance Wilder, the background illustrator and designer since season 2. As we walked inside greeting us was Lance and Matt Groening, and behind them were a board of illustrations and printed script from the show. They were there promoting their new book at the time “The Simpsons Handbook: Secret Tips From The Pros.” It was there they started to tell us one big secret about the show. That we were all invited to the library, because it was revealed inspiration behind the town of Springfield on the show. As it turns out, many cast of the Simpsons graduated from Chelmsford Public High School. Including prop designer John Krause who graduated in the class of ’86 who both grew up in Chelmsford, MA and around Boston. It was from Chelmsford where starting from Season 2 they grew inspiration from architecture and even some characters from the local area. In front of us were authentic prints that Lance and John drew themselves.
“I had come up with the original comic book and baseball card shop and the Springfield Town Hall, and I just thought the Adams Library in Chelmsford would make a good kind of a traditional looking town hall. I basically flopped the Chelmsford design and added a bell tower.” — Lance Wilder
After graduating from the Rhode Island School Of Design, these two friends went onto to Hollywood looking for work. It is there they met Matt Groening who was looking for background ideas for the Simpsons to live in. From the firehouse, to Tony & Anne’s Sub Shop, Zesty’s Pizza and even Skip’s Diner, all can be found in one form or another back in their home town. Over the years we have lost a lot of these icons that made Chelmsford unique. Throughout this story we talked about how Chelmsford has seen drastic change in just recent years and that we are in a large transition period. If you drive through our town centers and look closely you will begin to notice a cry for help. The hidden cracks coming apart at the seams. You see a town that is in distress but does not want to admit it. The Mobil gas station which had been at the center of our town for over 70 years was going to be replaced by a new owner never happened and was left abandoned in a dirt lot. No buyers. When Bob’s Coins a staple of Chelmsford for 40 years announced retirement, his shop was broken into and building has since been left abandoned. Chelmsford’s main floral shop Feeneys that used to deliver the best flowers are still empty with no buyers. Acton 9 Dance Studio and bowling allies will soon be condos. Odd Fellow’s Building was abandoned when the bank left along with our Fiske House. This is increasingly becoming more common as the years roll by.
“The Town cannot compel property owners to improve the facade appearance of their properties. Due to the backlogs as a result of the pandemic, it would also be difficult for the Town to obtain court approval to enforce landscaping concerns.” — Paul Cohen (Chelmsford Town Manager)
“Wires everywhere, leaning telephone poles, crumbling roads, vacant buildings, unkempt landscaping … not that beautiful actually … some spots, yes … tremendous potential!! Take a walk through other towns like Lexington & Concord.” — Steve Chelmsford (Radio DJ)
This should not be viewed as a personal attack against any businesses or the business owners by any means. Not at all. Many are actively involved in trying to save these mom and pop shops and prevent more industry from leaving. Many are pointing out that large parts of Chelmsford are becoming dilapidated as property owners leave them abandoned. That is what the photos show. Many believe the town should take the opportunity to redevelop the center for new businesses before it’s too late. Small businesses are struggling in Chelmsford because of bad management. Odd Fellows has sat empty for 20 years. Fingers should never be pointed but we should also not ignore the problems either. Other towns look much nicer than ours. Right now our former farming town may be going in the wrong direction and we could do a lot more. The question to ask becomes, why is Chelmsford not attracting new businesses like other surrounding Boston suburbs such as Billerica, Tewksbury, Littleton, Acton, Andover, Bedford? That is a good debate to have. For the size of our population we should have a lot more industry. The irony is that we had substantially more industry and manufacturing here 50 years ago when we had half the population size. The numbers are not adding up and it’s getting scary to some holding onto old ways and traditions. What is becoming of their little farm town?
Chelmsford has always been through a lot and survived. We made it through a Revolutionary War and Civil War, the Great Depression, Vietnam draft, and the Great Recession, and now the deadliest pandemic in recent history where we witnessed 112 deaths and we have always bolted back as a community. After the death of George Floyd the town witnessed close to one thousand residents of our mostly white community coming together in peace, after a local Chelmsford High School student Emma Walsh organized a vigil. In attendance Chelmsford Police Chief came up to the podium and apologized to black residents of Chelmsford for police turning a blind eye to systemic racism for so long, and called what happened to George Floyd “murder”. We listened to folk music from students, and heard stories of how black families in Chelmsford experienced racism and continue to be affected and how we can help. I attended and it was a life changing experience for the fact that you never believe it’s happening in your own backyard. After we all marched together through the Center, and would have been holding hands if it were not in the middle of a pandemic. It gave me great hope for the future.
At the end of the vigil our police chief ordered the entire police department to take a knee for nine minutes including everyone who attended. Black residents also spoke to white residents about the history of racism in Massachusetts at booths, and everyone came together for one day of peace. It seemed like for the bickering and politics you witness around the community, for one day division and separation dissolved as we joined hands. One thousand strong then marched through the center of the town that was led by black residents. It could be described as the greatest day of unity our town seeped in division and bitter feuds had experienced in a long time.
Through all of this there have been many small victories to be proud of. The last piece of open space in the town center you can find is a mysterious grassland tucked away in the corner labeled Bartlett Park. Every year you will see local residents flocking there to take senior photos, family picnic, or and morning meditation. It represents the pasture that was donated to the town by Harriett Bartlett that officially created the Chelmsford Land Conservation Trust. Ever since 1961 the organization has been dedicated along with the Chelmsford Historical Society to saving what is left of open space and Chelmsford original architecture and agriculture. Today the Land Trust now owns nine open spaces around the town. They’ve since added on to include Archer Meadowbrook, Bartlett and Bovey woodlots, Miriam Warren Wetlands, Warren Wildlife Sanctuary, and the most recent acquired was the Kroll-Calder-Larter Pasture donated in 1992. These lands, totaling about 80 acres, are preserved as remnants of Chelmsford’s industrial and agricultural past.
After development threatened the last of small family farms in the area, residents raised money for the Chelmsford Land Conservation Trust to purchased the former Sunny Meadows Farm from the Lewis family in 2008 to create a conservation restriction on the site to restrict further development for agriculture. Today it now serves as the Walter F Lewis Community Garden named after the original owner, and the The Richard St. Ogne Community garden, one of the few remaining green spaces left in Chelmsford. You also have one of the last crop fields left in Chelmsford ran by The community also banded together to support various CSA’s (Community-supported agriculture) at the remaining farms left at their yearly farmers market. Chelmsford. This include husband and wife farming couple Phil and Deborah Jones who moved into to the farmhouse they attached to their store in 1988 when they opened Jones Farm. Once a year they grow their organic native tomatoes, fresh dug white potatoes, spaghetti squash, green beans, peaches and nectarines and the usual squash and cukes along with Dom’s meats. However during the pandemic the famous farm stand of Chelmsford made the decision to retire its indoor farm stand and reduce its hours at farming market. In 2012 Phil was diagnosed with guillian barre syndrome, and it’s very likely a decade from now the last commercial farm in Chelmsford will go into retirement.
“If a farm fails most of the time is goes to housing or as an open space that really is no longer a farm (Red Wing farm and Warren Farm). We want to keep real farming alive in town, so generations from now people can still see the farming traditions that have been going on for over 400 years in town.” — COSS (Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship)
Keeping the hope alive is the the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship, an independent group of resident volunteers, maintains the town’s open space and community gardens, and hosts free community events including music and discussions to build a sense of community and stewardship with new and young volunteers that also work with Chelmsford High and local church groups. This includes irrigation, rebuilding green houses, fixing farm equipment, and maintaining roads around Chelmsford’s neighborhoods. They constructed their own well on Wotton street street in North Chelmsford which pumps 20 gallons per minute of ice cold clear water to the community garden and with enough bandwidth and adequate pressure to help open Bits n Pieces, the only operating farm left in North Chelmsford. The organization does help local businesses because they see it as a way to keep open space healthy and family friendly. They do this for the town, so people can enjoy it but also for “for profit” farms. Farmers have very small staffs and during planting especially they need extra help. Farmers also give back in major ways to the town. They donate produce to our food pantries, they offer educational opportunities and most of all they keep land as it has been for hundreds of years with flowers and plants that support our wild life and insects (especially bees). Farmers also have large equipment and have helped on so many open space projects I cannot count.
Chelmsford has a long history of agricultural organizations. In 1794, a society formed for “useful improvements in agriculture.” In 1803 the Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen was lead by its first president, Ebenezer Bridge. And starting in 1850, the Chelmsford Farmers and Mechanics held cattle shows that were “great events in the rural communities.” Parlee Farm at Proctor Road hints of another time, when Chelmsford was a sprawling farm community, with a little brown self-serve stand where you can buy eggs on the side of the road by leaving your money in a box. Every warm summer you can see countless cars pulling up to the farm stand to buy fresh produce, and each season they open up their land for fresh picking hunts for apples, tomatoes, and strawberries to make strawberry shortcake. Every Easter the kiddos gather for a local egg hunt the Parlees hide away, and down the road every Halloween a huge haunted corn maze opens up. Across the street from the Chelmsford high school and Chelmsford Police Station between a highway intersection remains a single strip of land from a local farmer that refuses to sell his horse and cattle farm and part ways. Going back many decades the state and local area has been the hosting town of the Middlesex 4-H fair, three-day fair drawing 5,000 attendees every late summer featuring more than 100 events and exhibits from horse shows and obstacle courses to hayrides and rabbit races, Milking competitions, livestock demonstrations, and lots of people sitting around on benches eating, laughing, and generally having a wonderful time.
“I think 4-H Fairs are important to the community as we are getting away from our long history of agriculture. It is important to keep that history alive and inform the public about the types of activities our 4-H members are working on — not just raising and caring for animals but also cooking, woodworking, art, photography and other useful skills.” — Vice President Lisa DeScenza
In recent years the few remaining hiking trails such as Crooked Springs Reservation, Russel Mill, and Thanksgiving Ground Town Forest had become unusable and overgrown, and COSS has been working with Eagle Scouts to bring them back to life. It would be in 2009 when the state awarded money to buy the old train tracks on the Framingham Line which would go onto be known as the Bruce Freeman trail, which was the area’s first bike path ever built. It now includes 7.7 miles of trail and an additional 5.3 miles coming. Maybe these are the small victories we need to be appreciative of. It’s not the agriculture and industrial industry it was 100 years ago, but every little bit counts when it comes to keeping a once small town above water.
In recent years there remains the “Growing Up In Chelmsford” Facebook group, where townies gather to speak of their memories of a different time. You too can join to lean about Chelmsford’s history. Perhaps no images are a better representative of division within community than the photographs above, half developed and half farmland. Struggling to find its future identity in an unsure brave new world closing in on the once faint and quiet town of New England. Is this becoming the new normal we will all have to accept in the name of progress? There are many who will read this article and know exactly what I’m talking about. There may be some who are even in denial of the problems we face. Chelmsford’s story is one of great resilience and strength, among its people to preserve the old and original meaning, but also not be left behind. I only hope to give a voice and showcase history and culture before it is gone for good. People ask where did the old homes, shops, farms, and families go? They went up, up, and up, until they could not build anymore. All that remained in the dust of dirty construction and the noise of a grumbling diesel engine was the sound of silence, speechless empathy looking towards the site of once fertile soil of our ancestors. The only question that remains is a simple one, and that is the town’s motto. After the sires have won, will there be anything left for the children to guard?
Update 2023: Some Good News!
In Summer of 2023, it was reported that the historic Fiske and Odd Fellows buildings were getting a total restoration without the need for building a condo like previous proposals. Local Chelmsford resturant owner of Fish Bones Ali Reza Zosherafatain purchased the building with plans to extend a new steak house, and the 18th century Fiske home was sold to a new family who wanted to take on saving a historic property. The first time a family has lived in the home in more than three decades. Proof that when community bands together, we do not need to jump to the fastest dollar.
