Civic Conversion Advocates Step Up Campaign Ahead of Town-Wide Referendum-September 12, 1981

Supporters of Tuesday’s town-wide referendum question—which asks voters to approve converting the former Aaron Guild School into a new Civic Center—are launching a high-gear campaign this weekend to counter opposition and secure approval.

Pro-Civic Campaign Mobilization and Financial Clarifications

Walter Grady, a town meeting member and leading proponent of the $2.2 million project, announced that 8,000 informational leaflets will be distributed door-to-door starting today, backed by an intensive telephone outreach campaign.

“We’re going to present them with the real truth. There have been a lot of misrepresentations made,” Grady stated, criticizing pamphlets recently mailed to 10,000 Norwood residents by the Mylod Civic and Charitable Foundation of Walpole—which urged voters to defeat the referendum and instead support joining a regional YMCA in Walpole—as well as opposition brochures circulated by selectmen and the Finance Commission.

Grady emphasized several key points regarding the project:

• Senior Citizen Accommodations: The new Civic Center will include dedicated space for senior citizens, alongside an office for the director of senior citizen activities. “The senior citizens have not been thrown out of the new Civic,” Grady said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
• Funding Source: The $2.2 million conversion cost will not draw upon tax revenues, but will instead utilize capital realized from selling the original Civic Center site to Norwood Hospital for its expansion.
• Swimming Pool Costs: Addressing circulated figures, Grady clarified that a swimming pool at the proposed new Civic Center would cost $200,000, not the $2 million claimed by opponents, citing official architectural estimates.

Majorities of the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Commission oppose the conversion, arguing in an official Sept. 10 mailing that the former elementary school should be sold and returned to the tax rolls. However, pro-Civic members of town government—including Selectman Thomas Riolo and FinCom member Joseph Adakonis—support the project.

Town meeting previously approved the $2.2 million conversion by a 66-50 vote, but opponents successfully petitioned to force a town-wide referendum. Overturning the town meeting’s decision requires a simple majority, provided at least 20 percent of registered voters cast ballots against the proposition.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger