Selectmen Vote 3-2 to Lease Old Town Firehouse for New Restaurant Development-September 29, 1982

Dining out in the old fire station behind Town Hall may soon become a reality. In a 3–2 vote last night, the Board of Selectmen agreed to lease the former fire department building to Boston restaurateur Carla Foley—the lone bidder—kicking off immediate negotiations on lease terms to transform the turn-of-the-century red brick structure into “Carla’s Dining Room and Cafe,” featuring Italian-American cuisine.

Lease Terms and Financial Negotiations

Following an impromptu bargaining session, selectmen, Foley, and her husband, attorney Joseph P. Foley, reached a tentative agreement for a 10-year lease. The terms include:

• Annual Rent: Starting at $26,000 per year (raised from initial offers of $18,000 and later $24,000).
• Payment in Lieu of Taxes: Approximately $3,500 to $3,600 annually—calculated by applying the town’s $22.90 commercial tax rate to the building’s roughly $150,000 assessed valuation—ensuring the town does not subsidize private industry, as Board Chairman William F. Butters noted.
• Total Annual Return: Roughly $30,000 for the town.
• Renovations: The tenants will receive essentially a building shell, requiring an estimated $210,000 in private capital improvements, alongside covering expenses for water, sewer, or drainage alterations.

An escalator clause for future rent increases still requires formal drafting and review. Town Manager John J. Carroll had initially recommended a higher rental range of $57,000 to $62,000 based on local commercial surveys, but the Foleys successfully argued those figures improperly accounted for basement space.

Board Division and Downtown Revitalization

The vote exposed deep divisions among town leaders regarding municipal property use. Board Chairman William F. Butters and Selectman Walter J. Dempsey opposed leasing or selling the historic firehouse, arguing it should be kept in reserve for future municipal office needs rather than leasing out a space currently used to store town equipment.

However, Selectmen John F. Kinnaly, Joseph F. Curran, and Thomas A. Riolo voted in favor, with Kinnaly arguing that higher rental demands would kill the project and boosting the downtown area. Lamenting that the town center had become a “sub-shop haven” that had “gone to pot,” Kinnaly praised the upscale proposal, declaring of Carla’s, “That is dressy!”

Town Manager Carroll will draw up the final lease agreement for review by the board and the Foleys.

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