Woburn officials present conceptual design for new West Side Fire Station near Reeves School; conservation site visit set

City officials and engineering consultants presented a conceptual design Sept. 25 for a replacement Woburn Fire Department Station 5 on the Reeves School ball field (Gillis Field) and asked the Reuben Conservation Commission for early feedback on wetlands and riverfront-area permitting.

The presentation, led by Rick Rice of Dinesco with environmental input from Amy Ball of Horsley Witten Group and stormwater design from Steve Stanish of Horton Group, described a two-story, three-bay station sited in the southern portion of the Reeves parking/ball field area and framed the project as a “riverfront area redevelopment” proposal under local riverfront-area rules.

The proposal follows a city council bond authorization approved earlier this year, which the presenters said funds construction of two new stations under a roughly $30,000,000 authorization. Station 4 in East Woburn will be rebuilt on its existing site; Station 5 requires a new site, the presenters said, because the department’s newer station design will not fit on the current Lexington Street site beside the YMCA.

Consultants described site constraints and mitigation plans. Ball said the site contains a mapped perennial stream and adjoining bordering vegetated wetlands, plus local 25-foot and 100-foot buffers and an extended riverfront area. “We are proposing to bring it before the commission as a riverfront area redevelopment project,” Ball said, adding that the proposal relies in part on previously degraded impervious surface already on the site and that, under redevelopment rules, up to 10% of the riverfront area may be covered when the pre-1996 degraded condition is documented.

Stanish presented a schematic stormwater approach using two subsurface infiltration systems preceded by deep-sump catch basins and water-quality pretreatment; overflow would be routed at grade to a restored meadow area in the former ball field. He said test-concept design intends to meet predevelopment peak-runoff rates and to locate the infiltration system above seasonal groundwater. The consultants noted plans to revegetate and restore the unused portions of the ball field to meadow and pollinator plantings as part of mitigation.

The team said the proposed station would include unfettered access to Lexington Street with a new curb cut, parking for on-shift firefighters, dormitory space above apparatus bays, and a solar-ready roof. They noted grading and emergency-vehicle turning requirements drive the paved apron sizes and layout.

Schedule and next steps presented to the commission: ANRAD (wetland delineation) documents submitted and an on-site ANRAD meeting requested (the presenters said they hoped for an ANRAD public hearing in early October); the consultants said they would seek a Notice of Intent (NOI) submission in mid-November and anticipated going out to bid in spring 2026 with a roughly 14-month construction period once work is under way.

Commissioners and the team agreed to a site visit on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 5:00 p.m. so commissioners can review the flagged resource areas in the field before formal hearings. The presenters said they would coordinate attendance with the commission and with school and city stakeholders before the public ANRAD hearing.

Commissioners asked about alternate sites the city had considered; presenters said they reviewed school sites, parcels near Joyce Bridal and Gonzales Tennis Courts and an area near Russell Street, but those were rejected for operational or ownership reasons. Consultants also described a 60-inch culvert under Lexington Street that serves the perennial stream and emphasized that proposed drainage would be treated on-site prior to reaching the culvert.

Commission members did not take a final vote on permits at the meeting. The Oct. 1 site visit is intended to inform the ANRAD hearing and subsequent NOI filing.

The project team requested input from the commission on riverfront-area redevelopment elements and on ideas for meadow restoration and invasive-species management if the ball field is removed.

If hearings proceed on the schedule outlined, the commission will next consider ANRAD findings and the NOI package under formal public hearing procedures.