Billerica Select Board Places $41 Million Recreation and Senior Center Project on Warrant

BILLERICA -- March 18, 2024, Billerica Select Board votes to send $41 million recreation and senior center plan to spring Town Meeting. The board voted 5-0 Monday to place the Capital Facilities Committee's recommended dual-building project on the 2024 spring Town Meeting warrant, following a packed public hearing in which more than a dozen residents urged approval. Architect David Eisner of Abacus and landscape architect David Warner of Royal Architectonic presented plans for a 22,400-square-foot steel-frame Recreation Center at Peggy Hannon-Rizza park and a 14,400-square-foot two-story brick Council on Aging building at the existing senior center site at 25 Concord Road, with combined projected costs of approximately $41 million. Recreation Director David Grubb described the department's current 30-by-30-foot program room, sewage backups, and recurring rodent infestations, telling the board, "It's like doing it in the middle of a Chuck E. Cheese." Select Board Member Andrew Rosa voted yes but said he does not support the Peggy Hannon-Rizza location, arguing the Vining school site offers more room for future growth and questioning whether a state parks grant bars construction on the tennis court footprint. If Town Meeting approves bonding, substantial completion is projected for the second half of 2026.