This Week's Winchendon News
Dilapidated Mill Building on Lincoln Avenue Destroyed in Dramatic Pre-Dawn Inferno
This Pulitzer-calibre photo was taken on the scene by former Winchendon firefighter Ricci Ruschioni
Photo by Ricci Ruschioni
In the early hours of Friday, March 20, a crumbling mill building at 283 Lincoln Avenue Extension burned to the ground in a raging fire that engulfed the entire structure and threatened a row of homes directly behind it.
Winchendon Fire Department said in a press release,
"On March 20, 2026, at approximately 3:38 a.m., the Winchendon Dispatch Center received multiple 911 calls reporting a structure fire at a large, abandoned mill building located at 283 Lincoln Avenue Extension.
Upon arrival, Shift Commander Tyler Pelkey reported a fully involved three-story abandoned mill building with multiple exposures and immediately requested a second alarm. Due to the size and intensity of the fire, a third alarm was subsequently struck, bringing additional personnel and apparatus to the scene.
"Winchendon Fire and Police Departments acted swiftly to evacuate residents from Brown Avenue, located directly behind the fire building, as a precautionary measure. Fire crews prioritized protecting nearby residential structures and successfully prevented the fire from spreading to adjacent homes. Two additional mill-style buildings located across the street sustained minor fire damage from spot fires; however, crews were able to quickly contain and extinguish these extensions.
"Firefighters remained on scene throughout the morning and early afternoon conducting overhaul operations. An excavator was utilized to assist with extinguishing persistent hot spots. As of approximately 1:50 p.m., operations were concluding, and residents were permitted to return to their homes. However, power restoration in the area is expected to require extensive work.
"Mutual aid assistance was provided by the Gardner Fire Department, Templeton Fire Department, Ashburnham Fire Department, Westminster Fire Department, Royalston Fire Department, Jaffrey Fire Department, Rindge Fire Department, Gardner Fire EMS, and the Ashburnham Drone Unit. Richmond Fire Department provided station coverage during the incident.
"The Massachusetts State Fire Marshal's Office and the District 8 Fire Investigation Unit responded to the scene and are actively investigating the cause of the fire. The Department of Fire Services Rehabilitation Unit was also on scene to support the firefighters.
"The Winchendon Fire Department extends its appreciation to the Winchendon Police Department, Winchendon Dispatch Center, Winchendon Senior Center, Winchendon Emergency Management, Winchendon Building Inspector, National Grid and the Winchendon Water Department for their assistance during this incident."
The building was what remained of the former White Mountain Freezer Company complex. Another structure in the complex, across the narrow road from this one, was demolished in 2019 after one of its walls collapsed into the road. The second floors of the two buildings had once been connected by an enclosed walkway that spanned the road. The mill structures were built around 1830, according to the Town of Winchendon Assessor's records, and were listed as being in "very poor" condition. The owner is listed as J.A. Jameson, through a realty trust, which acquired the property from the White Mountain Freezer company in 1994. In 2019, the Courier found that Mr. Jameson lived in Puerto Rico and owed over $13,000 in delinquent taxes. Then-Town Manager Keith Hickey said "the owners have not been cooperative" with the town. According to the Treasurer/Collector's office as of Tuesday, March 24, 2026, the town has had the property in tax title since 2019, but the case has been sitting in Land Court since 2023. The Treasurer/Collector's office did not have the exact amount of unpaid taxes, interest, and fees accrued on the property since 2019.
The row of tidy homes lined along Brown Avenue directly behind the mill building were built around 1900, probably as housing for mill employees. They are about 150 feet away from the mill. Residents, some of whom had awakened to see the three-story mill blazing across their front yards, were evacuated to the police station. The Old Murdock Senior Center opened its doors to those who were displaced by the flames. Resident Todd Richards told Boston 25 News, "I went to look out the door, and I looked over and there was a big fire sitting over here at the building, so it was pretty crazy." He called 911. Another resident said it was a scary situation. It was a very impressive accomplishment for the firefighters that the homes only sustained minor damage.
Beals Memorial Library Staff Present their Update to the BOS
Beals Library Director Manuel King and Asst. Director Alexis Chanchathack address the Board
Photo copyright Town of Winchendon
At the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Monday, March 23, Manuel King, Director of the Beals Memorial Library, and Alexis Chanthachack, the library's Assistant Director, came before the Board to give a very polished presentation about the library, its plans for the future and its value to the town.
"As you know, last year, the library survived a Proposition 1-1/2 override vote that threatened to close the building," Mr. King began. "The staff, Trustees and Friends wish to thank the voters of Winchendon for their support of the library in passing this critical vote and recognizing its value to the community. Because of your belief in the importance of the Beals Memorial Library to Winchendon, the library remains a thriving full-service resource that is a free, welcoming and inclusive community center where all residents can gather, find reliable, fact based information, engage in open civic conversations and participate in all the programs and services that enhance our town's quality of life."
Mr. King went on to review the services that the library offers to the public. "Most obvious is the access to the newest books, DVDs, audio books, music, CDs, magazines and video games, as well as the digital Library app Libby, which provides free access to thousands of additional digital ebooks, audio books and more. We offer free access to the internet through our public computers and Wifi connection, a resource that many turn to when they don't have a computer or internet connection at home, are looking for a new job, or simply need a space to work or study away from the distraction of a busy home. We provide free databases and other online resources like ancestry.com and word searchable digital copies of the Winchendon Courier. The library offers affordable printing, copying and faxing that many community members depend on." He continued the impressive list: free one-on-one technical assistance, research assistance into local genealogy and history, and a collection of Town Reports, street lists and vital statistics going back to the 19th century. The "Library of Things" allows library card holders to borrow items such as a sewing machine, a telescope, "hotspots" for mobile internet access and much more. Card holders can borrow passes to area museums, all the Massachusetts State Parks and the USS Constitution.
The library provides materials to teachers in the Winchendon school district and homeschooling families, and provides delivery and pickup of library materials to teachers and home-bound individuals.
Mr. King went on, "The library provides free civic meeting space that many organizations and individual individuals depend upon. Because of grant funding from the Winchendon Cultural Council and financial support from the Friends of the Library, we've been able to bring diverse, free year round cultural and educational programming to the community, including concerts in all musical genres, shows, activities and learning experiences for kids, teens and adults. We offer our annual summer reading club that combines reading challenges with weekly fun events and activities that hundreds of our community members participate in every year." The reading club is open to people of all ages.
"Through grant funds from the American Library Association, we have put in place our nationally recognized sensory friendly programming and inclusion efforts that support autistic, neurodivergent and special needs individuals and their families, and we are a certified autism welcoming library, the first in the state to have such designation," Mr. King said. "On top of the special programming, we also provide ongoing activities like the Lego club for kids, the DND club for teens, preschool play group and story time for small children, and two different book clubs and a yoga class for adults. The Beals teen advisory board with 15 members, offers teens the opportunity to suggest materials for a young adult collection and help design, plan and implement teen programming."
Mr. King mentioned some of the many collaborators who have helped extend the library's programs and reach far beyond its walls, including the Friends of the Library, the Winchendon CFCE, the school district, the Clark Memorial YMCA, the Winchendon CAC, the HEAL Collaborative, the Winchendon Parks & Rec Commission, and Cornerstone Church, "to name just a few." Some of this collaboration helped create the ongoing series of Community Conversations, "Bridging Ideas and Building Futures." This is a series of four monthly professionally facilitated discussions about the meaning of community. The second one will be held on Saturday, March 28 at the Old Murdock Senior Center at 10:00 a.m. to noon.
The town has a long investment in the library, Mr. King pointed out. "The Beals is on the national and state registers of historic places and is of architectural and historic significance," he said. "It is a jewel we are all proud of and have a duty to protect for future generations. Since 2017 the town's registered voters, the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation and the library itself, using nearly all of its trust funds, have invested over $2 million in bringing the library into the 21st Century."
A comprehensive series of completed and planned infrastructure improvements have been divided into phases. The first phase, Mr. King explained, was the Library Accessibility Project which was completed in 2018. It added a new, sidewalk level entrance, an elevator connecting all floors, a new stairwell and two ADA-compliant accessible bathrooms on the ground floor to the original 95-year-old building. The second phase, completed in June of 2023, installed fire suppression, sprinkler and alarm control systems, replaced the original knob-and-tube wiring with new wiring that is compliant with current building codes, and repaired and repainted cracked plaster walls and ceilings.
For Phase 3, Mr. King said, the library plans to convert the current Director's office into an ADA-compliant accessible bathroom for the third floor, a smaller and more private Director's office and a dedicated local history and genealogy room. "Let me emphasize that this project will be completed with grant funding. We will not be coming to the town and asking for money. In fact, we have already received a $10,000 grant from the American Library Association that will help fund the architectural and engineering design work for the project. Other grants from the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation, the American Small and Rural Libraries Association, and the Massachusetts ADA Improvement Grant Program have been or will soon be applied for." With a third floor accessible bathroom, visitors who need an accessible accommodation won't have to take the elevator to the ground floor. The library hopes to complete this project in FY 2027.
"Phase 4 will hopefully begin in FY 28 or 29 with the aim of converting our heating source away from oil to a more efficient electric heat pump system that not only heats in winter, but cools in summer," Mr. King said. "At present, the library spends an average of $10,157 annually for heating oil and the maintenance of our furnace and radiators. Because the town has a contract with a solar energy company to provide electricity to our municipal buildings, the library has an electricity credit of over $4,000, meaning that it is likely that we will incur little or no cost for running the system other than routine maintenance and repair. Conversion means leaving the burning of fossil fuels behind and heading into a much cleaner and less expensive energy future for the library."
Phase 5 of the infrastructure project will convert the current ground floor book sale area into a Children's Room. This is a long time dream for the Beals and it will be expensive. There is currently no start date, but the library hopes it may be possible to begin work by 2033, seven years from now.
"To put it all into perspective, the library currently represents less than three quarters of 1 percent of the total town budget, or $268,955," Mr. King said. "In FY 2026 (the current fiscal year) that averaged out to an annual cost of $38.07 to the average Winchendon homeowner, or the retail price of one new book purchased at a bookstore. Since 2022 The Library has received over $270,000 in grant funding that has enhanced our programs, services, initiatives and building infrastructure projects.
"It has been said that nobody uses the library anymore. But in 2025, the Beals had 22,709 patron visits. 2,384 people attended our programs. We circulated 31,433 items, and 30 percent of Winchendon residents held a Beals library card. Keeping our state certification through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners means that the library receives over $36,000 annually in state aid. These funds are critical to the overall operation of the library. It also means that Winchendon residents can continue to access the collections of hundreds of other libraries statewide. All in all, the value the library holds as a resource to the taxpayers of Winchendon is enormous."
To conclude the presentation, Mr. King said, "We are launching a community survey that we hope will give us a better idea of how the library can improve our programs and services and be even more relevant to the citizens of Winchendon. The responses of community members, both library users and non-users, are crucial to the development of our long range strategic plan. So from today until July 31 we will have surveys available both digitally and at our website, bealslibrary.org, and on paper at the library and in various locations throughout the town.
"In conjunction with the survey, we are also inviting you and other community members to participate in several focus groups that we plan to convene over the course of the next several months. In that spirit, I would like to specifically invite the Select Board to our first session on Wednesday, April 8, at 6:00 p.m. in the library's auditorium. Future focus groups, dates and locations will be announced at a later time. We encourage all community members to participate in either the focus group or filling out the survey. Your input and feedback will help us identify opportunities for growth within our library, services, programming and more, we want the library to continue to be a valuable resource and a welcoming space for everyone in the community."
Board Chair Andrew Beauvais asked Mr. King what he saw as the greatest challenge to continuing their forward momentum--was it funding, staffing, the building or what?
"Definitely a combination," Mr. King said. "As we grow, we will need more staffing. If we have a children's room in the future, we'll have to have a children's librarian, which means that person will have to have some assistance. That means that we won't be just one level anymore. We won't just be the main floor of the library, but we'll have two floors. The top floor will remain the same, I'm assuming, but the children's room will have to have staff associated with that. But funding will be the biggest challenge, because we tried to make this work a couple of years ago, and the cost was about $2 million to convert that basement into a children's room. So it's not going to get any cheaper. So I think that will be the greatest challenge for us to if we really want to make that happen."
The Massachusetts Library Commission offers expansion grants, but to be eligible a library needs to be expanding at least 60 percent beyond the footprint of the current library building--basically putting in an addition to the building--which the children's library room project as planned doesn't do.
Board member Audrey LaBrie said, "we're seeing studies are showing that once schools went to technology, 2019, 2018, something along that line, they now have enough data, they're finding out that kids know less now than they did before because of the way that they're learning. And I've seen information about young children who are addicted to their cell phones and who are addicted to their iPads, and people are starting to recognize that it's not such a good thing. And I'd like to think that that that pendulum is swinging out a little bit back towards reading and books and community places where children can have a physical book and such like that. So I'd like to think in the next X number of years, not too many, we'll see that swing become stronger, and perhaps there will be more opportunities for the creation of a children's library, as the world, not just us in the United States, realizes that there's a place for both."
Mr. Beauvais asked if the library could begin a capital campaign for the future Children's Room project. Mr. King said absolutely, but the Trustees of the Library would be the group spearheading that.
Bridging Ideas & Building Futures Conversations Continue in Winchendon
Community Conversations: Bridging Ideas and Building Futures is a series of four facilitated discussions presented by the Beals Memorial Library, the second of which will take place on Saturday, March 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Old Murdock Senior Center in Winchendon. In this discussion, participants will explore the topic,"Who do we want to be as a community?" Every day, with every action and every decision we make, we are writing a story, the collective story of Winchendon, but the question isn't just about the present moment; it's about the legacy we choose to leave behind. Who do we want to be as a community for the children watching us, and for the generations who will inherit the town we build together?
Participants are encouraged to discuss with fellow community members what you want from and for our community and how, together, we can get there. These conversations are facilitated by the Collaborative Resolutions Group of Greenfield, MA.
The other conversations in this series will take place on Saturday April 25, and May 16 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Old Murdock Senior Center. We will explore the topics: "How do we build the community we want?" and "What steps can we take to begin to make this a reality?" Our ideas may expand on initiatives already happening in our town and may give rise to new ways that we can effectively live and work together as citizens of our town.
All are welcome. Please join us for these thoughtful and stimulating conversations. The Old Murdock Senior Center is at 52 Murdock Avenue in Winchendon. For more information, please call the library at 978-297-0300 or visit bealslibrary.org/conversations. Funds for this project are provided by The Health Equity Partnership of North Central Mass: CHNA 9, the Friends of the Beals Memorial Library, and Cornerstone Church of Winchendon.
On Prop 2-1/2 Underrides and What Might Make Them a Workable Idea
There is some interest in Winchendon currently to place a Proposition 2-1/2 underride before voters this year. An "underride" is an option under Proposition 2-1/2 for voters to lower the maximum tax levy amount that a municipality can collect. Under Proposition 2-1/2, the levy collected in a given fiscal year is the baseline, and the levy may not be increased more than 2.5 percent in the following year, unless voters pass an override at the ballot authorizing the town to raise more. An underride, if passed, lowers that baseline a given amount. Going forward, the tax levy can only increase by 2.5 percent from that new, lower baseline, unless an override is passed.
Municipalities faced with an underride would need to prepare a reduced budget that stays within the lower levy amount. This could end up being very complicated, since many expenses can't be changed or controlled. These include contracted salaries and benefits (if contracts aren't honored, the town can be sued into a black hole), insurance, and state mandated education expenses (also with very high financial penalties for violating them), to name a few.
Since Proposition 2-1/2 became law in 1980, there have been only 24 underrides attempted, by 20 different communities. All but two of them passed. Most were less than $500,000.
Three of these underrides stand out, however, and are worth taking a look at. The town of Hopkinton--famous as the starting line for the Boston Marathon--passed three underrides in a row. In 2014, Hopkinton passed an underride for $1,250,000. In 2017, it passed an underride for $1,500,000. In 2019, the town passed a third underride for $1,180,568. The total amount Hopkinton reduced its tax levy between 2014 and 2020 was $3,930,568.
No other city or town in Massachusetts has done anything like it. Between 1989 and 2007, Hopkinton itself passed six overrides, one for nearly $2 million. So what happened in Hopkinton after 2007, and how could they cut their tax levy by almost $4 million?
Hopkinton is a wealthy community, with a per capita income of $98,172 and a median home value of $802,700. But it's not all that big. In 2008, the town was looking for ways to increase its housing stock. The Weston Nurseries went bankrupt, opening about 900 acres of land to development.
And develop it, Hopkinton did. The town added 1,400 units of housing within a span of five years. And while it wasn't all McMansions, this was nice housing with healthy market rate values. New construction is exempt from the Proposition 2-1/2 limit. Hopkinton's total tax levy went through the roof.
All that extra revenue in the tax base was what allowed Hopkinton to pass those underrides, reducing the tax burden per household by a significant amount.
But this didn't come without other costs.
According to United States Census data, in 2010, Hopkinton had a population of 14,925. In 2020, it had a population of 18,758--an increase of 3,833 or 25.7 percent. As reported by WGBH news in 2019, suddenly Hopkinton had the traffic congestion and busy environment of the much more urban towns closer to Boston. School enrollment increased nearly 10 percent, increasing the school budget. In the 4th and 5th grades, class sizes were as high as 26 kids per class.
The town also become, quite suddenly, much more diverse. In 2008, Hopkinton was about 95 percent white. It is now less than 70 percent white. New students in the schools spoke around 50 different languages at home, with the largest percentages being Spanish, Mandarin and Telegu, a language spoken in India.
Even with all those underrides, Hopkinton's property tax rate for FY 2026 is $14.10 (per $1000 of valuation). By comparison, Winchendon's FY26 tax rate is $12.69.
A critical point to note, however, is that Hopkinton didn't pass underrides just because they thought the town was spending too much money. They passed them because the town successfully brought in a tremendous amount of new revenue--increasing its housing stock and tax base by roughly 25 percent in a very short space of time. The town was rolling in money, a surplus that it felt it didn't need. But it brought in this revenue by sacrificing some of the qualities of life (such as quiet, a rural character, open space) that had drawn many of Hopkinton's existing residents to move there in the first place.
Both Proposition 2-1/2 overrides and Proposition 2-1/2 underrides need to be considered carefully. Municipal budgets are not the same as a individual's personal budget because so much municipal spending is mandated by contracted obligations, public safety laws and laws governing equal access and education. Municipalities have far less freedom of choice in their financial management than individual persons do. If a community can bring in as much new revenue as Hopkinton did, then an underride makes sense. Without that, an underride may only make a community's problems harder to solve.
Traditional English Tea to be held at the Beals Memorial Library
The Friends of the Beals Memorial Library will be hosting a traditional English Tea and Celtic Music Concert on Saturday, April 11. Tickets are available until Monday, April 6. The concert will feature Bill Thomas on Irish pipes and flute and Matt Harris on fiddle.
Photo courtesy of Beals Memorial Library
The Luncheon is hosted by the Friends of the Library and will feature traditional sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, various cookies, and of course, a variety of your favorite English teas. The Friends want everyone to know that men are invited, and they encourage all participants to wear period dress, if possible. The Celtic music concert will feature lively jigs and reels, hornpipes and maybe even a haunting air. Bill Thomas plays Irish uilleann pipes and traditional Irish wooden flute (and penny whistle, upon request). With him is Matt Harris, who plays fiddle.
Bill Thomas has been playing Irish music on flute and uilleann pipes for over fifty years. He started out playing for contra dances in the Monadnock region, and has since played for many dances and sessions from here to the West Coast. Over the past dozen years, Bill has made yearly trips to Ireland where he is a welcome visitor at sessions and festivals in many parts of the country.
The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. For more information call the Library at 978-297-0300 or visit bealslibrary.org/friends.
April Movie Showings at the Beals Library
The Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon will be showing two movies and two documentaries on our BIG screen during the month of April.
The screenings begin on Thursday, April 2 at 6:00 p.m. with the PBS, Independent Lens documentary, Understanding Autism in celebration of Autism Acceptance Month. The film follows filmmaker Scott Steindorff as he aims to discover more about his own autism. Speaking to autistic people all across the spectrum, he seeks to reframe the perception of autism by focusing on the identification, diagnosis, and treatment by highlighting the amazing talents and love of neurodiversity. A discussion of the film and its topic will take place after the screening. Not rated. Run time: 58 minutes.
On Thursday, April 16, the Library will be showing the film Killers of the Flower Moon. The movie is a 2023 American epic crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the 2017 nonfiction book. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, but a corrupt local political boss sought to steal the wealth. Rated R. Run time: 206 minutes.
The third showing of the month stars Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field. This 1963 film is the Library's Classic Movie Matinee for April and will be screened on Wednesday, April 22 at 3:00 p.m. When traveling handyman Homer Smith (Poitier) stops by a farm in rural Arizona, he is welcomed by a group of Roman Catholic nuns who have emigrated from Germany. Realizing that the farm needs a lot of work, Homer takes on a number of repair projects for the women, who are led by the headstrong Mother Maria. Impressed by Homer's kindness and strong work ethic, the nuns come to believe that he has been sent by God to help build them a chapel. Not rated. Run time: 94 minutes.
The final film screening of the Month is the PBS documentary, The Librarians, on Thursday, April 23 at 6:00 p.m. When lawmakers seek to review a list of books, librarians find themselves on the frontlines of a national battle fighting for intellectual freedom and our democracy. Across the U.S., librarians face the impact of uniting against library collection standards that include restrictions on race-related and LGBTQIA+ content. Drawing on historical context, The Librarians explores the broader implications for education and public life. A discussion of the film and its topic will take place after the screening. Not rated. Run time: 85 minutes.
The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. All movies at the library are free and open to the public! For more information, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit their website at bealslibrary.org.
