Freetown committee and selectmen vote to pursue MBLC-funded design for combined COA-library building

Freetown — The joint Council on Aging (COA)–Library Building Committee voted 4–2 and the Board of Selectmen later voted unanimously to move forward with a design that follows the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) grant program for a combined COA-library building on Sept. 29, 2025.

The committee’s vote directs the designer and owner’s project manager to continue developing a design based on the MBLC-funded program — a schematic that would yield a roughly 24,000-square-foot combined facility (a 14,000-square-foot library, a 7,000-square-foot COA facility and about 2,600 square feet of shared flex/meeting space). The MBLC design grant makes a larger project financially feasible, but presenters warned the board that the town faces a choice: design to the MBLC program and pursue construction reimbursement, or reduce the building program to an entirely town-funded option that would not be eligible for MBLC construction funds.

The MBLC route carries both potential savings and risks. Mark Champagne, the owner’s project manager with P3, estimated the total project cost at about $22.8 million and said the net out-of-pocket cost to the town under the MBLC scenario would be about $14 million (the MBLC covers the remainder through reimbursable installments). Champagne told the committee the town has contracted the designer for a $160,000 fee to reach schematic design and that redesigning the project to a smaller, town-funded option would add roughly $100,000 in design costs.

Why it matters: The MBLC grant would fund a…