Mayor proposes moving BOH to Callahan

 You fool with the senior's and their senior center at your own risk Mayor Spicer. Why not the old library at Saxonville? Or the Petrini building with lots of open space. Hard to believe the Mayor would knowingly piss off a considerable voting block.



By Jim Haddadin
Daily News Staff

Posted Apr 4, 2019 at 1:05 PM Updated Apr 4, 2019 at 5:08 PM

The Health Department, which has 16 full- and part-time employees, must leave the Fuller Middle School building by mid-June to accommodate the city’s $98.3 million project to demolish and replace the school.

FRAMINGHAM — A nonprofit that raises money for local seniors wants the state attorney general to block the city from moving workers into the Callahan Senior Center.
Mark Goldman, president of the Friends of the Callahan Senior Center, said he learned this week that the Framingham Health Department is slated to move from its current location at the Fuller Middle School into the Callahan building.
The Health Department, which has 16 full- and part-time employees, must leave the Fuller building by mid-June to accommodate the city’s $98.3 million project to demolish and replace the school. The construction company working on the project will use the existing Health Department offices while work gets underway.
Goldman, whose organization raises money to support the senior center, said the Callahan building at 535 Union Ave. is already short on programming space and parking — particularly handicap spots.
“They’re taking away valuable space and resources,” Goldman said. “They’re taking away a third of our physical capabilities, and we’re stretched to the limit as it is. Parking is a major issue. Where are you going to put all these extra cars and people and staff?”
Moving city workers there would also violate the spirit of a sizable donation that was used to purchase the Callahan building, Goldman said.
Framingham resident Jack Blais gave $1 million to the Friends of the Callahan Senior Center to help the facility relocate. The town used the money to purchase and renovate the Callahan building, where the senior center has operated since 2005.
When he donated the money, Blais stipulated that the Callahan building, a former Chevrolet showroom, be available for the exclusive use of seniors, Goldman said. Alan Glick, former owner of the Callahan building, also contributed $500,000 to support the project, Goldman said.
Goldman said he contacted the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division of the state Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday to request that it review the city’s plans. A staffer from the AG’s office acknowledged receiving the complaint Wednesday afternoon, he said.