CANTON — Town Administrator Charles Doody and Town Planner TJ Torres are pleased to share that the Town of Canton has received a $50,000 grant through the Housing Choice Grant Program to perform a feasibility study to support the Gridley School Redevelopment Study.
The Gridley School building, located at 314 Washington St., dates back to 1854 and has been vacant since its last tenant, a public day care, closed in 2013. The Town determined that there is no municipal use for the building, but there is historic value and interest in preserving the structure. In 2018, Canton Town Meeting authorized the Select Board to reuse, repair, sell, or lease the property.
The project, funded by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) Housing Choice Grant Program, will consist of an architectural and structural assessment of the building and conceptual scenarios of how it and its property could be converted to residential use.
The end result will be a report with the consultant’s findings and potential plans for the building, including potential reuse and redevelopment. This data will be used to entice developers to purchase the property.
“There is a real need for housing in Canton,” Town Administrator Doody said. “This
funding will help us bridge the gap in converting a building the Town no longer needs into a productive, tax-paying property that provides new living opportunities for people in the community.”
Canton has been a Housing Choice Community since 2018. Municipalities must apply for certification and recertify every five years, and compliance with the MBTA Communities law is now also a condition for eligibility. The Housing Choice Grant Program recognizes municipalities that have produced a significant number of housing units and adopted or established best practices encouraging housing production within the past five years.
“This grant award is a testament to Canton’s proactive approach to housing these past few years,” Town Planner Torres said. “From zoning changes to the establishment of the Affordable Housing Trust, we are steering our own ship, and projects like this will allow us to implement the vision.”
Grant funding will be rolled out by the EOHLC in January 2025. The project will be
implemented locally by the Town of Canton Planning Department and the Canton Affordable Housing Trust.
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