Dartmouth has been talking about building a recreation center for years but the project is now at a crossroads with progress having been on hold since the departure of the former town administrator last year.

“The town has never had a centralized indoor spot for recreation,” said Town Administrator Cody Haddad, noting especially during the school year: “It’s always been a need.”

The concept of a centralized facility gained traction around 2020, when town officials began taking a more deliberate look at long-range capital planning. Haddad said while he was serving as the assistant town administrator, a feasibility study was commissioned to evaluate possible locations and to get a full picture of what the facility would be for.

The study explored three locations: a parcel off Reed Road, the current Council on Aging site and the old police station lot on Russells Mills Road, with the station emerging as the most feasible option.

The station, located at 249 Russells Mills Road, was abandoned in 2014 after legionella bacteria, which can cause a severe type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease, was discovered in the plumbing. Haddad noted the town owns the DCTV building and additionally purchased another home that abuts the property.

He said its centralized location, proximity to existing recreation fields and the abutting town-owned land gave it an advantage over the others.

But the study was just the first step. In 2022, the town allocated approximately $1 million to begin the next phase, which was the hiring of an Owner Project Manager and starting the design process. However, those plans changed with the departure of former Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes in June 2024.

The procurement process was inherited by Assistant Town Administrator Chris Vitale and Finance Director Gary Carreiro, who were serving as co-administrators at the time. Vitale said they found the OPM procurement documents "insufficient.”

“Unfortunately, we could not make the determination that it was done in accordance with procurement,” Vitale said. “So we made the decision to cancel the procurement.”

Because of the delay, the town had to reallocate the American Rescue Plan Act funds that were set to expire. Now, with those funds off the table, officials are gathering public input and considering its options before taking next steps.

The town launched a long-range planning survey at the June Town Meeting and received 283 responses by early July. The proposed recreation center ranked second to last among resident priorities, with the top infrastructure projects being the drinking water treatment facility, wastewater upgrades and the Dartmouth High School roof.

Still, Haddad said the survey is just one input among many.

“That’s definitely a piece of the puzzle,” he said. “But we need to look at what are the needs of our recreation programs.”

Vitale said the town could consider a variety of funding options, including Community Preservation Act funds, potential borrowing if the project is phased out as well as state or federal grant opportunities. 

Haddad noted funding may determine the timeline of the project as it becomes available and said public-private partnerships, such as collaboration with UMass, are also on the table.

“The idea is we want to engage the community and see what are the priorities of the community,” Haddad said. “Unfortunately, it’s just incredibly expensive. I think early estimates a few years ago were probably somewhere in the $20 million range, and that’s for a pretty simple facility.”

Officials plan to hold a series of long-range capital planning workshops with the community beginning this September, with the first scheduled for Sept. 9. 

“I think the community will find those very beneficial to understanding some of our long-term capital needs,” Haddad said, “and hopefully get a better understanding of our proactive planning that we are undertaking here — that we’re not just being reactive.”

Also to be discussed at that meeting is the Council on Aging. The early feasibility study had taken a look at whether a combined community and recreation facility could accommodate both the town’s recreation needs and some necessary upgrades to senior space.

However, it was determined that upgrades to the existing facility, separate from recreation, was more desirable. The town completed a masterplan for the Council on Aging, located at 628 Dartmouth Street, and has begun to work on phase one: renovations to the kitchen and adjacent room. 

The Dartmouth Friends of the Elderly have agreed to help out with funding, Haddad said. “They’ve been a great asset to the town and we are hoping to get that design complete.”

From there, officials will get a better picture of the construction cost and will determine if more funds will need to be requested at the next Spring Town Meeting.

As for the rec center, Vitale said the next major step would be reissuing a compliant OPM procurement, should the town decide to proceed. But the ultimate future of the project now depends on what residents and officials determine to be the best use of town funds and resources.

“Our goal as the town is to just continue to offer high-quality services to our residents in the most efficient way possible,” Haddad said. “We’re really trying to take a much more proactive approach to not just our capital, but really our operations as a whole.”