Rehoboth May Sever Ties with WDC

The Board of Selectmen may sever ties with the Women's Development Corporation due to a lack of progress in their plans to convert the long vacant Anawan School into senior housing. The building, located next door to the Senior Center on Bay State Road, is town-owned property.  In 2017, the town agreed to lease the property for a 99 year period.

The Providence-based firm had hoped to develop 36 affordable housing units for the elderly. The complex was to be known as the Anawan School Apartments. The $5 million project would involve renovating the front portion of the building and demolishing the back portion to construct the units.

At their Monday meeting, the board told Dean Harrison, the director of real estate for the WDC, that the Anawan School was a public health hazard. There are holes in the roof and dead animals littering the premises.

Harrison had planned on incorporating the senior center into the facility, which drew a sharp rebuke from the board. The senior center was destroyed by fire on September 12.  ‘That building is not salvageable at all,” Selectman Michael Costello said about the Anawan School. “It should be knocked down.” Costello did not envision the senior housing to be completed in a “timely fashion.”

“I see that as a liability to new construction,” said Selectman Jim Muri.

“As a business relationship, I just don’t see this working,” Selectman Dave Perry told Harrison. “There are just too many red flags here.”

“We’ve had a great working relationship,” Harrison replied. “I hope it continues.”