State Hospital Deal Details Expected to be Public Next Week

Town officials anticipate publicly sharing the details of Westborough's proposed Westborough State Hospital acquisition during next Tuesday night's board of selectmen meeting, Town Manager Jim Malloy said Monday in a press release.

The board meets at Westborough Town Hall.

Meanwhile, the second and third of three public informational meetings on the proposed purchase of the 95 acres from the state Division of Capital Asset Management have been set for 6 p.m. Aug. 27 and Sept. 17 in the Westborough High School auditorium, Malloy wrote. The first public meeting was in June.

Town officials are working toward presenting the deal to voters at the October town meeting, Malloy said at the June meeting.

The state’s Westborough State Hospital Reuse Commission issued a report in 2011 that the "highest and best use” to maximize the state’s return on the state hospital, which closed in 2010, would be about 500 single and multi-family homes, Malloy said at the time.

Residents attending a public meeting in the Westborough High School auditorium in 2011 strongly indicated they wanted Westborough to have a say in the site’s reuse, he said.

Selectmen then created an ad hoc committee to discuss why Westborough would want to buy the property, he said.