New Elementary School, Fire Station Move Forward At Lexington Special Town Meeting

LEXINGTON, MA -- Lexington Special Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved plans to replace the Maria Hastings Elementary School and advanced a plan to build a new fire station. The meeting opened Monday night and will continue Wednesday at 7:30 pm in Battin Hall in the Cary Memorial Building at 1605 Massachusetts Avenue.

Only one town meeting member voted against spending $63 million to tear down the Maria Hastings Elementary School. Three abstained and 156 voted in favor of the project. The school is one of six elementary schools in Lexington and serves 440 students, according to its Website. The new school would have nine additional classrooms and accommodate up to 654 students. If funding is approved and construction stays on schedule, the new school would open in early 2020.

Earlier this year town meeting approved funding to design the school. The new school would be built on the north side of the existing school's site, while the space now occupied by the existing building would be used for parking. In recent years, Lexington has had to make significant repairs to fix roof leaks and replace structural beams.

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Special Town Meeting also approved spending $676,300 to design of a new fire station, as well as $2.1 million for the design and engineering of a temporary fire station that would be used if the final fire station replacement project is approved. No town meeting members voted against either of those proposals.

In other actions, Special Town Meeting:

• approved design funds for a new Lexington Children’s Place building at 20 Pelham Road.
• approved funding measures to address traffic mitigation, transportation demand and public transportation issues.
• held off on making a decision on solid waste trash collection, as the town is still formulating plan.

The key item when the body reconvenes Wednesday will be whether or not to change Lexington's zoning laws to prohibit the retail sale and cultivation of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Photo of mural Maria Hastings Elementary School by Lexington Public Schools.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).