Table of Contents
Get our free local reporting delivered straight to your inbox. No noise, no spam — just clear, independent coverage of Marblehead. Sign up for our once-a-week newsletter.
A University of Connecticut brownfields team presented redevelopment scenarios for the former Coffin School on Wednesday evening and collected public input that leaned toward small-scale housing and preserved green space, as town officials outlined a timeline that would bring the matter before the Select Board by early summer.
The session at Abbot Hall, the second community meeting on the future of the roughly 3-acre property on Turner Road, featured a presentation by a UConn Technical Assistance to Brownfields team conducting a site reuse assessment for the town. The team walked residents through four housing categories that could fit on the site: single-family homes, estimated at eight to 10 units; duplexes, estimated at 16 to 20 units; affordable housing apartments, estimated at about 40 units; and workforce housing, which could take several forms.
Community Development and Planning Director Brendan Callahan said after the community engagement process concludes, a preferred reuse option would be presented to the Select Board, which holds final authority over the property’s disposition. He placed that milestone in May or June, at which point the board could decide whether to issue a request for proposals or seek additional information.
The UConn team also presented results from a hazardous building material investigation conducted Dec. 15, 2025, by Weston and Sampson Engineers. The firm collected 101 samples from 44 materials in the building. Twenty-four of those materials tested positive for asbestos, which would need to be removed before any renovation or demolition. Only one lead sample exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s residential threshold. Callahan confirmed no soil sampling has been done at the site.
During the listening session, residents were asked by show of hands what should guide decision-making. Neighborhood compatibility drew the strongest visible response, according to the session’s facilitators. Green space and public access also registered as priorities, while preservation of the existing building drew a more mixed reaction.
Albert Jordan urged officials to keep any development small and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. He argued against reducing parking requirements, citing problems at existing senior housing complexes in town, and said he favored limited housing paired with a dog park.
Pam Flynn, speaking remotely, challenged the suggestion that traffic from a 40-unit apartment complex might resemble what the neighborhood experienced when the school was active. She said school traffic was concentrated in two hours a day, while residential traffic would be constant.
Callahan clarified several zoning questions. Duplexes and townhouses would require a special permit but not a zoning change and would not need to go to town meeting, he said. Any multifamily apartment development would require a zoning change. He also noted the Coffin School site is not included in any consideration related to the MBTA Communities Act and that if the town remains noncompliant with that law, state funding would continue to be difficult to obtain.
The property has been vacant since 2021 and was transferred from the School Committee to the Select Board in May 2025. The town received competing expressions of interest last fall, including a 40-unit affordable housing proposal from Harborlight Homes, the only formal development plan, along with municipal requests for cemetery space, battery storage, a dog park and temporary boat storage. The Housing Committee voted unanimously Jan. 13 to recommend the Select Board prioritize housing development at the site. No request for proposals has been issued.
The UConn team said it plans to produce about three redevelopment renderings incorporating community feedback and present them at a subsequent meeting before the report goes to the Select Board. An online survey will be posted on the town’s Coffin School webpage and remain open for two weeks.
BEFORE YOU GO … Our reporting remains free and open to all. It is sustained by readers who choose to support it — by contributing so that routine, document-based local reporting continues without paywalls or promotional framing. Right now, 101 readers support The Marblehead Independent with monthly or annual contributions. Click here to become an Independent member.
