“What I’ve said to the selectmen is, let’s kind of start over and take a fresh look,’’ said Carole Cornelison, who took over as commissioner in March. “Let’s take a fresh look at what all of the possible options are, together. This is not a push-down, and it’s not a them-versus-us scenario.’’
The hospital, which housed up to 2,200 patients with mental illnesses, closed in 2003. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its grounds (but not its buildings) are currently open to the public during daylight hours, and it was one of the primary locations for Martin Scorsese’s 2010 motion picture, “Shutter Island.’’
About 106 acres have already been set aside as state conservation land, and 39 acres are slated for town ownership. The plan for the remaining 80 acres, as generally conceived by Medfield and state officials about five years ago, had been to build a 440-unit housing development, including senior and low-income residences.
That seems to have changed since the national economic crisis, however.
Michael Sullivan, Medfield’s town administrator, says selectmen and other officials are ready to go back to the table.
“We’re there to listen,’’ he said of next week’s meeting. “The housing market is not what it used to be five or 10 years ago, so maybe they have to take a fresh look.’’
A fresh look, according to Cornelison, includes reconsidering ideas that were set aside in past conversations with the state.
In the past, for example, the property’s distance from major highways and public transportation was considered a hindrance to business development. Now, Cornelison said, the division’s consultants will consider whether the site could attract light-industrial tenants such as medical companies or research and development.“At this point,’’ said Cornelison, “I guess, in very general terms, that the option that would be attractive to me would be one that had something to do with job creation.’’
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