New proposal for Burgo’s indoor basketball facility

Burgo Basketball Association may still build an indoor recreation center in Dartmouth, despite previous plans for a facility falling through at Fall Town Meeting last year.

An indoor facility may be built at the non-profit association’s 101 Slocum Road location after founder and president Steve Burgo asked the Select Board to consider increasing the term of its lease at a Jan. 25 meeting.

According to Burgo, increasing the lease from 10 to 30 years would help the association with project funding. The current lease is up this December.

He said he would also need use of all 29 acres of the property, instead of the 12 acres the basketball facility uses now.

Burgo Basketball had previously run into problems trying to build an indoor athletic facility, which Burgo said has been planned for years.

Last year Fall Town Meeting rejected a proposal for the town to sell or lease property at the corner of Reed and State roads, a site that Burgo had hoped to use for the $6 million project.

In 2018, the association was prevented from buying the Slocum Road property after the family of former owner J. Greer McBratney told the town that the donor did not want the property to be sold.

“You guys know me — I’ve been doing this for years,” Burgo told Select Board members at Monday’s meeting. “I will never give up on it. The building needs to be built. We need to get this done. And...the town can’t afford to do it on their own.”

Select Board members determined that any lease changes would have to be approved by Spring Town Meeting in June. 

They also agreed that the leases for all four recreational organizations on town-owned properties would have to be expanded in the same way, in the interest of fairness.

“I have no problem going before Town Meeting and asking for 30 [years],” noted Select Board Vice Chair Shawn McDonald. “[But] if it’s going to be for one, it has to be for all.”

Other board members seemed unsure about the proposition.

“I certainly have tremendous respect for what you do there,” said member David Tatelbaum. “[But] Town Meeting made it pretty clear that they didn’t want what they voted on last time.”

Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes told board members he would work on language for a draft article with Town Counsel Anthony Savastano.

The issue will be brought up for further discussion at a Select Board meeting on Feb. 22.