City Councilors Updated on Status of Downtown Framingham Campus

FRAMINGHAM - Members of the Framingham City Council’s Finance Subcommittee met on Tuesday, July 22, to discuss updates regarding the downtown Framingham campus and the multiple projects there that municipal officials continue to work on.

The downtown campus is primed to be the home of a new district courthouse and regional justice center at the site of the Danforth Building along Union Avenue. Control of that structure was signed over from the city to the state back in January, as leaders plan on having the new center take over for the current district courthouse on Concord Street. The regional justice center would hold several local and state courts under one roof alongside additional legal resources.

Dennis Giombetti, a part of State Senate President Karen Spilka’s staff, told City Councilors that a preliminary design for the center has been signed off by state officials. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project should take place in the late spring or early summer in 2026, according to Giombetti, with a project completion date currently set for 2029.

“Things are going progressively very, very well; I know the Senate President is pleased,” Giombetti continued on Tuesday.

In regards to the Memorial Building, Framingham’s Chief Operating Officer Michael Tusino said that Mayor Charlie Sisitsky’s administration does not anticipate any additional need for space there following the acquisition of the building at 188 Concord Street, which is adjacent to the site. A new roof at the Memorial Building is already part of the city’s capital budget plan for the current fiscal year; after that installation, the COO said local leaders will look into the possibility of adding solar panels to the roof. Tusino explained that a project to design ADA-compliant bathrooms that are more accessible has recently begun as well.

Going forward, Tusino said that the current masonry aligning the Memorial Building’s exterior can be kept for the next two to three years, while Nevins Hall will likely be in need of refurbishments within the next four to five years.

“Nevins Hall is one of the biggest venues between Boston and Worcester, holding between 1,200 and 1,300 people,” Tusino continued.

“It needs some electrical work to consistently take on large venues that size, and we think we can probably get some historic renovation funds to do that.”

As for the plan to build a parking garage between the Memorial Building and the police headquarters, which initially aimed to hold over 300 vehicles downtown when the project was put out to bid back in 2023, Tusino told the Finance Subcommittee that the city is in negotiations with the owner of the 200 Concord Street property. The COO added that if the plot cannot be acquired, the garage would likely end up being “half the size we need.”

District 7 City Councilor Leora Mallach, though, wanted to ensure that a timeline for the garage’s construction was in place.

“We’ve been talking about the garage for a while now,” Mallach told Tusino.

“At what point are negotiations over and we just move forward with a smaller garage? We need a garage.”

Tusino said the mayor’s administration feels that they are in a “better place” regarding these 200 Concord Street negotiations; he anticipates that it will take a few more months to clear things up after the money for the deal was approved by local legislators about a year ago.

At-Large City Council member George King pointed out that municipal leaders had previously authorized taking 200 Concord Street by eminent domain. District 4 City Councilor Michael Cannon then questioned why that step hasn’t been taken yet, adding that he’s “running out of patience.”

“This is a big project; it’s a big staple of our municipal future in downtown, and we’re not making progress within the timeline that the community needs,” Cannon said.

Tusino suggested taking the conversation regarding the 200 Concord Street negotiations into a private, executive session in the near future.

The building at 188 Concord Street is slated to house the Middlesex Regional Emergency Communication Center for both Framingham and Natick. Tusino explained that local officials are reviewing the contract for renovations at the site with the bidder. The COO hopes to see a deal signed in early August so that work can begin soon after; Tusino estimated that it should take about a year to complete that work while other logistics for the dispatch center are ironed out prior to going live.