The town will not construct the long-debated new Center for Active Living at Bare Cove Park after a town meeting article to appropriate funds for it failed April 27.
After about an hour of discussion and a voice vote that was too close to call, the advisory committee requested a ballot vote on the contentious article. If passed, the article would have authorized the town to fund construction via a debt exclusion pending another vote of approval at the town election. Now, the proposal has been shot down before the election.
Town Moderator Michael Puzo said that 980 people cast a ballot on the article—only 4.8% of Hingham’s registered voters, according to state data from 2025. 510 voted in favor and 470 voted against, falling 144 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to pass the measure.
Questions remain about the future of the Center for Active Living, which serves residents over 60 and is currently housed in town hall.
Before the vote, Select Board Chair William Ramsey cautioned voters that rejecting the article could “kill the project” to construct a new Center. The town has spent several years assessing site and design options, and if the town initiates another design process for a more modest new center, rising inflation could make the project financially infeasible, he said.
Some of the residents who spoke in opposition to the project expressed a desire for a new Center for Active Living, but argued that the proposed design was too large and expensive and the proposed site encroached on a wetland ecosystem. Supporters argued that the Center should move out of town hall because of its limited space and parking, and a vastly larger building was required to support Hingham’s growing senior population.
The proposed design was nearly five times larger than the current Center for Active Living, and construction was projected to cost $25.8 million.
For now, the Center for Active Living will continue to operate out of its 5,500-square-foot space in town hall.
About the South Shore Times
The South Shore Times is an independent, locally-owned digital news platform, free to readers, that covers communities south of Boston. Our articles are written by South Shore reporters, not AI.
For more South Shore news, subscribe to our newsletter.