Above: Santa visited Southborough this week in 1991
Each week we take a look back at the top stories reported in the Southborough Villager 10 years, 20 years, and 30 years ago. Here are the stories that were making headlines during the week of December 12. If you have memories about any of these events, please share them in the comments.
10 years ago: It’s settled: Towns end years of turmoil by approving high school renovations
I wasn’t living in Southborough when the town was debating what to do about the space issue at Algonquin, but I can imagine that when the final vote came, there was relief on all sides that the debate was at last over. It’s a debate that ended ten years ago this week when Southborough voted 1,776 to 330 to renovate Algonquin and keep the school district in tact. Northborough voters concurred by a margin of 3,156 to 1,750. Wrote the Villager at the time, “The votes punctuate more than five years of public struggle that divided neighbors, made the two towns synonymous with electoral gridlock and left a high school system in political limbo.” (Southborough Villager, December 14, 2001)
20 years ago: Callers question selectman on police appointment
When citizens want to sound off today, they often take to the internet to sites like this one. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to rant or rave, you called in to a local radio station. That’s exactly what a number of residents did this week in 1991 when then-Selectman James Falconi appeared on WSRO’s Express Your Opinion program. Callers challenged Falconi on the recent appointment by selectmen of a new permanent police officer and the union grievance that was filed as a result. Residents questioned the officer’s training, as well as comments Falconi made that some felt disparaged reserve officers. The host of the program also asked Falconi what selectmen would do to address “the morale problem” in the police department. (Southborough Villager, December 12, 1991)
30 years ago: Red Roof Inn Underway
Construction began on the Red Roof Inn 30 years ago this week. The 109-unit, two-story motel on five acres of land at the intersection of Route 9 west and Route 495 was expected to cost $2M to build. While the project required sign-off from multiple town boards, including the Selectmen, Planning Board, and Board of Health, the project took only six months to get through the approval process. (Can you imagine that happening today?) Neighbors asked for and received assurances concerning traffic and lighting. The town’s Industrial Development Commission lauded the project as one of the “more desireable industrial type” projects to bring to the town’s tax rolls. (Southborough Villager, December 4, 1981)
