Charlton officials weigh $50,000 for due diligence on former furniture store as possible senior/community center

The Charlton Select Board on Sept. 9 heard extensive public comment and board debate about whether to put a $50,000 capital appropriation on the warrant to fund due diligence on the former Charlton Furniture building as a potential senior and community center.

Town Administrator Andrew Coolis and members of the volunteer Community Center Feasibility Committee urged the board to authorize engineering, environmental and design studies to determine whether the building could be converted from retail to assembly use with a commercial kitchen and other needs. The committee presented the proposal as a next step to prepare a budget and scope for a possible debt-exclusion question at a future Town Meeting.

The proposal the committee and town administrator described would fund a property-conditions assessment ($5,000–$10,000); a 21E hazardous-materials…