City Buying Prince Street Property

The Concord City Council recently approved the appropriation of $200,000, to purchase of 10 Prince St., a single-family home located next door to the Concord Public Library.

The city will relocate its Human Services Department into the building, expanding the municipal complex that includes the library, the Concord Police Station, code enforcement, City Hall, the Concord City auditorium, and the Green Street Center. Officials say the purchase also allows “long-term flexibility with respect to the Public Library and other governmental operations” in the area. The council voted to take out bonds for the project, to be paid back during the next 20 years.

The home has been on the market advertised as an “investor property” by The Masiello Group for $190,000. The nine-room New Englander is about 2,000 square feet in size and sits on one-tenth of an acre. The house was built in 1880, and has access to two parking spaces. Taxes on the property amount to about $3,900, money that will be taken off the tax rolls.

Mayor Jim Bouley called the purchase of the house “a very smart move for the city.”

“I’ve had concerns for several years now, that our Human Services Department is isolated, so far, on Pleasant Street," he said. "I think it is long overdue that we bring them back to closer to our campus (and) closer to the police department."

Bouley said the employees in the department “do an absolutely outstanding job” but they are “extremely challenged in their daily work schedule.”

“It’s a tough job,” he said. “People walk through the doors ... they are very stressed and I think for safety purposes, bringing them closer to downtown is a very wise move.”

Ward 1 Councilor Elizabeth Blanchard said the building on Pleasant Street that currently houses the department is slated for other uses by the state, which owns the building. She said they needed to get out of the space by fall of 2012.

The purchase of the house and bonding was approved unanimously.