Page 8 EVERETT | FROM PAGE 3 from the splendor of its waterfront. As Mayor, I have made it a central goal of my administration to rid the city of its inglorious industrial monuments and move it forward toward a healthier, more environmentally just and economically prosperous future. My administration has been working tirelessly to move public policy forward across vital domains, including housing, transportation, and openspace, while also forming mutually-beneficial public and private partnerships to catapult Everett into the future. This has led to universally-lauded transit-oriented development, inEVERETT | SEE PAGE 9 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, NOVEmbER 15, 2024 Still unresolved are two NEW FIRE CHIEF | FROM PAGE 2 items: for the Administration to “provide the City Council with copies of any lease, rental or operating agreements in effect at the former High School by and between the City of Everett and the Broadway Boxing Club, and the City of Everett and the Eliot Family Resource Center” and provide “an update on its ongoing efforts to reclaim the former Everett High School for expanded school purposes, including the relocation of certain other non educational uses within the facility, and the reuse and redevelopment of the former Pope John property,” as part of a plan of to spend $72 million to convert parts of the old High School to classroom space for 7th and 8th grades. “I’m concerned about operation in a public building without a formal lease agreement,” stated City Council President Robert Van Campen. “Eliot is renting monthto-month, but that can’t run in perpetuity.” He also said that he and Ward 4 Councillor Holly Garcia have heard from constituents that the building and area might not be suitable for multiple uses. “The concern in Ward 5 is there are too many uses in the building, not that Eliot and Broadway Boxing be put someplace else in it,” Van Campen said. “That would be a hard sell in the neighborhood. My constituents support reusing the building, but feel we’re at a breaking point in terms of use.” “A lot of residents are reaching out to me that it would be like Grand Central Station with too many uses,” Garcia added. The Administration will present a revised Feasibility Study to the City Council on Monday, November 25 “to pursue a proposal to move functions to different spaces within the building,” Deveney said when contacted earlier in the day. “The Feasibility Study will show how. There’s not enough space in other municipal buildings.” She thinks the boxing club and Eliot Family Resource Center can be given dedicated and secure spaces, with the boxing club operating primarily after the school day. However, Eliot is operating in Everett voluntarily and could move to any community in their service area, which includes Chelsea, Malden and Medford. Most of their patrons are from Everett because they’re in Everett. An item to accept a $500,000 grant from the state Transportation Department to reconstruct sidewalks and bus stops and provide other roadway improvements on Broadway between Maple and Timothy Avenues was referred to the City Council’s Committee on Government Operations, Public Safety & Public Service for study and discussion. A request will be sent to Transportation Director Jay Monty to attend.
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