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Date: 7/18/2022
LUDLOW – With the 99-year lease between Ludlow and the Ludlow Housing Authority (LHA) set to end once some final work is wrapped up in the building, members of the Exit 7 Theater met with the Ludlow Board of Selectmen during their July 12 meeting to discuss the next steps for the theater.
Exit 7 Vice President Christina Collins said she came before the board to discuss options for the theater.
“Right now, our current lease with you expired June 30, so we don’t have a lease right now and we are trying to figure out what we should do next and what your intentions were, if you were going to give up the lease,” she said.
Exit 7 President Adam Malmborg said the plan was to meet with the Housing Authority on July 26.
“We have a proposal of what we want to do with the space, including the basement, to help the theater group as well as the community of Ludlow, where we want to open up the space to additional services,” he said.
Board member Bill Rosenblum said the board wanted to make sure Exit 7 can continue to put on shows for the community.
“It’s one of the few arts that we have in this town, and we want to preserve it, we did say to Robin [Carvide] that we want you to get together to find something that is amicable for both sides,” he said.
Board member Derek DeBarge said he wanted to expand Exit 7’s footprint in town.
“I’d like to not only keep it, but I’d like to renovate it and make it a bigger part of our society. I think Exit 7 is another hidden gem in town, but I’d like to see more exposure,” he said. “I know there’s interest from more than just me in renovating that entire block.”
Town Administrator Marc Strange said he expected the town to be out of the building within the next three months.
“Our 99-year lease with LHA is contingent upon sealing off the boiler in the LHA building from heating the other town buildings. Once that has been effectuated then we can get out of the 99-year lease and then we will really have no rights or obligations in the building,” he said.
Board Chair Tony Goncalves said he was concerned about what happens when the town is no longer in charge of the lease.
“If we do terminate our 99-year lease, then they are at the mercy 100 percent of the Housing Authority. What guarantee do we have that they’re not going to be thrown out by the Housing Authority?” he questioned.
As a solution, Goncalves suggested potentially making the end of the town’s lease contingent upon the lease Exit 7 signed to remain in the building after the town no longer has control of the property.
The board unanimously agreed to extend the lease through Sept. 30 with the option that it could end before that date if Exit 7 reaches a lease agreement with the Housing Authority before then.
Track and field update
With a heavy investment from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds going toward renovations for the track and field located behind Ludlow High School, Goncalves provided an update on the project. He said that work is moving along and the plan is to provide an update from the engineer at an upcoming meeting.
Rosenblum said he was concerned about using a turf field for the track.
“I would hope that someone investigates the grass portion of it. A day like today when the turf it hits a certain temperature, it can actually burn the soles of your feet. Turf is not recyclable right now and there’s a lot of schools that have piles of turf sitting in the corners somewhere. I hope that there’s two studies being done where it’s not just turf,” he said.
Board member Manny Silva echoed similar sentiments and was concerned about a six-to-10-year life span for a turf field.
Goncalves said it was important for the town to get the project finished as soon as possible because of how much the price has gone up from when the project was initially brought to Town Meeting.
“When the track and field committee went to Town Meeting a year and a half ago and we discussed trying to get the town to raise the taxes and it was shot down at Town Meeting, from that point to now the track increased by $1.2 million, almost a 50 percent increase in the matter of a year and a half,” he said. “If we don’t do something it’s only going to get worse.”
During the meeting the board also interviewed and appointed Colin Galindo as a firefighter in town.
The Ludlow Board of Selectmen next meets on July 26 and coverage of that meeting will appear in the Aug. 2 edition of The Reminder.