MCI Concord advisory board outlines timeline, constraints and public outreach for 51-acre redevelopment

John Cooley, chair of the MCI Concord advisory board’s community outreach subcommittee, and members of the advisory board presented an overview of the MCI Concord site, the advisory board’s structure and an accelerated public outreach schedule to the West Concord Advisory Committee on Zoom.

The presentation described the 51-acre property that includes the closed state prison (MCI Concord), a state wastewater treatment plant and an adjacent parcel once planned as Junction Village. Cooley said the prison shut June 30 and the Department of Corrections remains engaged in asset disposition; the property is expected ultimately to be controlled by the state Department of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM).

The advisory board told WCAC members the planning process is a “sprint” from the late‑February consultant kickoff through June 30, 2025, when the visioning work must be completed to satisfy the funding timeline. Consultant team Agency (with subconsultants including a firm referred to as Landwise) was selected from six proposals; the consultants will run community visioning, develop three development scenarios with fiscal impact modelling, and support stakeholder outreach. The advisory board plans four public workshops (first public workshop April 30; another May 28), pop‑up events and online surveys, and expects a rezoning proposal to be ready for town meeting in 2026.

Why it matters: the site currently is zoned for government use only. The advisory board said rezoning is the town’s primary lever to shape future uses — for example, it could preclude large industrial uses if the town adopts more restrictive zoning. The board emphasized that DCAM will run the competitive selection process for developers and that DCAM is not required to sell land to the town.

Constraints and technical issues highlighted in the presentation included the wastewater treatment plant, Route 2/rotary configuration and transportation access. Presenters said the wastewater facility’s existing permit is a key limit on how much new development the town could support; the state has offered the wastewater plant to the town under the closure legislation and the board reported three proposed allocations of permitted capacity: roughly one third reserved for state uses (prison farm and state police), one third for redevelopment of the site, and one third potentially usable for broader town connections. Board members said the plant requires considerable upgrades and the town may face capital costs (presenters cited an order‑of‑magnitude estimate discussed internally of up to about $25 million to modernize the facility). The advisory board said engineering work is only beginning.

Transportation was discussed as another major uncertainty. The advisory board said the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is re‑evaluating Route 2 and the rotary near the site; because Route 2 designs are not settled, the board said final access and primary entry points to the parcel remain negotiable and will be coordinated with MassDOT. Presenters described ongoing outreach to regional communities to accelerate the rotary redesign and noted that DOT timelines are often slow.

The consultant work will produce scenario modeling for the community to evaluate impacts such as school enrollment, traffic generation and fiscal effects. Examples given during the Q&A included hypothetical scenarios with about 100 housing units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space; presenters said the consultants’ tools can estimate likely schoolchildren by dwelling type and bedroom count, projected tax revenues and required public services. Advisers stressed that developers chosen by DCAM would still need year‑plus permitting and design work, so the earliest construction start was described as 2028 (with other presenters noting 2029–2030 is possible).

The advisory board described membership and subcommittee roles: three subcommittees — land use planning & strategy (chair: Peter), legislative & government affairs, and community outreach (Cooley chairs outreach). Dan Gainsborough and Patrick McCurdy serve as co‑chairs of the advisory board; several advisory board members and subconsultants will participate in neighborhood outreach and the monthly advisory board meetings. The board also noted that the funding obtained under the enabling legislation must be spent before the end of the current fiscal year and there is no guaranteed continuing funding for fiscal 2026.

During Q&A, West Concord residents and WCAC members raised traffic, school impacts, integration with existing West Concord village businesses, coordination with other town property planning (including 2229 and other potential town facilities), and the fate and condition of historic resources on the site. Presenters responded that the school committee will be consulted as part of scenario analyses, that coordination with other town planning efforts is underway, and that historic resources and possible preservation options will be part of the consultant scope. The board encouraged residents to participate in the upcoming workshops and to use the soon‑to‑launch project website (mci-concord.org) to review materials and submit comments.

The advisory board emphasized the project remains multiyear, involves multiple state agencies (DOC, DCAM, MassDOT) and that the town’s principal control point is zoning and the ability to articulate a vision DCAM can use in its developer selection process. The board invited WCAC members to attend the public workshops and to share West Concord priorities — especially connectivity between the MCI parcel and West Concord village, protection of village character, transportation mitigation and wastewater capacity considerations.

The presentation closed with logistical details for the public engagement sprint: website and survey tools, a pop‑up event on April 19, and the two principal evening workshops (April 30 and May 28), plus a requirement to finalize the visioning deliverable by June 30 to align with available funding.

The WCAC meeting continued with committee business after the presentation.