City seeks school committee OK to build Fire Station 5 on Gillis Field next to Reeves School

The Woburn mayor and public-safety team asked the Woburn School Committee on Oct. 14 to declare a portion of Gillis Field — the open space adjacent to the Reeves School — no longer needed for educational purposes so the city can construct a new Fire Station 5.

The request would allow the city to build a three-bay, model fire station on school‑owned property the city controls; city presenters said the station design has a roughly 6,500‑square‑foot footprint (about 11,000 square feet total), a 34‑foot tower and a dedicated vehicle entrance on Lexington Street. The city said the project is funded from a previously approved bond authorization that added $30 million to the fire‑station program, and that Station 5 is expected to cost about $14–$15 million as part of that package.

The city said the current Station 5 location is inadequate for a modern facility and that the Gillis Field site best meets response‑time and siting criteria. "We believe that we can work with this committee to co‑locate and to have this fire station operate smoothly next door to the Reeves School," the mayor told the committee. Fire department officials said response times and firefighter safety…