The Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 last night to authorize a formal study exploring a reciprocal recreational facility-sharing agreement with neighboring Westwood.
Reciprocal Pool and Civic Center Proposal
Under the proposed arrangement, Norwood residents would gain access to Westwood’s indoor high school swimming pool during winter months, while Westwood residents could utilize Norwood’s Civic Center for basketball and other indoor sports.
The initiative drew enthusiastic support from a delegation of local parents who pressed the board on the town’s acute lack of indoor aquatic facilities, arguing that the absence of a winter pool severely hampers competitive youth and scholastic swim programs.
While Selectmen Gary Lee, William F. Butters, and Joseph F. Curran backed the feasibility study as a sensible regional compromise, dissenters voiced strong skepticism. Selectman John Kinnaly warned against inter-municipal entanglement, stating, “I don’t think it would be a fair bargain. I’ve seen these things when you get two towns together and they usually don’t work. You get intertown rivalries going and the thing breaks down.”
Meanwhile, Selectman Thomas Riolo advocated for independent municipal infrastructure over regional sharing arrangements. “I know people are going to have heart attacks when they hear me say it, but I have no problem with building a pool for the people of the town of Norwood, if it’s needed that badly,” Riolo declared.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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