North Andover CPA Committee Advances Field, Playground, and Lake Land Projects to Town Meeting

NORTH ANDOVER -- March 9, 2026, North Andover's Community Preservation Committee brought a slate of athletic, recreational, and open-space projects to the Select Board ahead of the May 12 town meeting. CPC Chair David Simons presented recommendations covering high school lower-field improvements, dugouts, bleachers, and a scoreboard, a full renovation of Gallagher Field including two soccer fields and a new near-side parking lot, an $80,000 special-needs playground upgrade at Franklin School, and a contingent parking access project at Sargent Field tied to the proposed third fire station. A $1.5 million Housing Authority request was scrapped after town counsel and the Community Preservation Coalition confirmed interior building improvements are ineligible for CPA funding. The most watched item is a proposed acquisition of a two-plus-acre lakefront parcel at Zero Great Pond Road, listed after a change in family ownership; the purchase price was withheld because negotiations with the seller, assisted by Essex County Greenbelt Association, are still ongoing. The board also voted unanimously to sign the March 31 local election warrant; the May 12 annual town meeting warrant closed the same day carrying 26 articles.