The Shattuck School: White Elephant or Place to Call Home?-November 13, 1974

Special Town Meeting Study Committee Weighs Future of 1903 Vacant Building as Community Groups Vie for Space

NORWOOD — Though viewed by some residents as an architectural white elephant following its return to the town at the October 23 Special Town Meeting, the vacant Shattuck School has quickly become the focal point of competing community ambitions. Built in 1903, the historic property on Washington Street is now under the scrutiny of a newly appointed seven-member study committee tasked with reporting recommendations back to the next Special Town Meeting, backed by a $1,000 appropriation for architectural and renovation estimates.

Moderator William J. Plasko appointed the special advisory panel earlier in the week. Acting Chairman Mary Ellen Foley stated that the committee’s initial meeting was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday night, emphasizing that members are entering the deliberations with entirely open minds. The panel has been directed to explore all viable possibilities, including educational reuse, razing the structure for a park, utilizing the land for elderly housing, or selling the parcel to a private developer for commercial or residential development.

Local Organizations Pitch Proposals for Office, Practice, and Meeting Quarters

During recent municipal hearings, representatives of several prominent local organizations stepped forward to express an eager desire to occupy space within the vacant facility:

• The Hotline Pulse: Coordinator Mary Merritt emphasized that Pulse is seeking formal office space rather than a drop-in center, requesting three classrooms for its telephone operations, counseling, and legal referral services. Highlighting Pulse’s mushrooming growth over its four years of operation—including a 24-hour emergency answering service, state licensing for rap groups, running the “Shared Families” runaway foster care program, and housing the Norwood Theatre Workshop—Merritt noted that state grants cover personnel but exclude rental overhead.
• Norwood Debonnaires: Jackie Floyd, head of the 120-member all-girl drum corps, stated that the organization has petitioned the Board of Selectmen to lease or purchase the Shattuck property. Citing the corps’ constant rotation of practices between the American Legion Hall, the high school, and elementary gymnasiums, Floyd pointed to the desperate need for a permanent home base.
• Veterans’ Council: Council President Frank Ciavattone submitted a request for a single room to serve as a permanent meeting hall and gear storage facility for the joint veterans’ organization, noting that the town currently provides no dedicated headquarters. Ciavattone indicated he would redirect his proposal to the newly formed study committee.

Past Preservation Efforts and School Board Retrospect

The intense debate over the Shattuck’s fate recalls previous efforts to preserve the 71-year-old structure. Joseph M. Pentowski, who previously waged a solo battle to retain the school as an annex to the high school or the Henry O. Peabody School, indicated his proposal might be revived.

Pentowski expressed frustration over the prior Town Meeting vote, suggesting voters had been swayed by emotional anxieties regarding potential regional student busing if left vacant, while faulting fellow school committee members for lacking foresight. As the Shattuck study committee begins its review, town boards and municipal departments await the panel’s fiscal and structural findings ahead of the upcoming town meeting warrant.

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