Friends of Fellsmere Heights Newsletter

Transformation! Conservation Restriction and Hospital Opening

Following is an excerpt from the Friends of Fellsmere Heights newsletter written by Lauren McGillicuddy, Clerk, Friends of Fellsmere Heights.

Conservation Restriction on land the City of Malden is buying

The opening of the new hospital (see below!) marks an important transition for the former Malden Hospital site, and for our work. Please read this carefully:

• The City of Malden and Tufts Medicine have reached an agreement for Malden to buy the remaining land that lies within the City’s boundaries. To do this, Malden received two grants: one from the Malden Community Preservation Committee, and one from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Together, these grants total about $1,500,000. The final grant was accepted by the Malden City Council on February 17, 2026.
• The Community Preservation Act says that land purchased as open space must be covered by a Conservation Restriction (CR), which controls what can and cannot be done on the land. The CR keeps the land from being sold or developed except in accordance with the guidelines it contains.
• Monitoring compliance with the CR cannot be done by the City, because the City would be in the position of policing itself. So, some other entity has to do that monitoring. This is called “holding” the CR. If necessary, the holder of the CR has the legal standing to take the City to court in order to prevent or rectify damage to the open space.

And, dear Friends, your Friends of Fellsmere Heights has been asked to hold that Conservation Restriction!

We are working with City employees to modify the Commonwealth’s model Conservation Restriction to meet the site’s particular circumstances. We and the City have always envisioned a park plan created with and for the residents of Malden, and the CR must include language that permits this. From a conservation perspective, there are other issues: for example, we want to make sure that the land doesn’t become a place to store plowed snow, since that would contaminate the land and water beneath and around it. There are many such issues to address.

We also have a great many questions to ask you, our supporters. This is part of our transition from promoting the community vision to supporting implementation of that vision. Once the City owns the land, we can plan events like expanded clean-ups, plant inventories, removal of invasive species, etc., even as we all participate in the community-led planning for what will become a new City park. Which of these activities would you like to help with or support? Are you interested in participating in making this new place wonderful, and also expanding our capacity to support Fellsmere Park? How will we engage the community of potential users?

Important upcoming dates

Answering these questions depends on us. Therefore, we are inviting you to two meetings:

• Saturday, March 14th, on Zoom, we will be discussing the Conservation Restriction process and the work thus far. We will be sending out the Zoom link for this call on March 9th.
• Saturday, April 11th, in person meeting, where the Board will formally vote on holding the Conservation Restriction.

We are seeking your input at both these meetings! Additionally, if there is interest, we may hold a week-night meeting for those who find it difficult to attend on Saturday mornings. Please RSVP when you see the invitations to these meetings, and also reply to this email to let us know if an evening meeting would help you become involved.

Opening of the Tufts Behavioral Health Hospital, February 6, 2026

Tufts Medical and Acadia Health graciously invited the board of Friends of Fellsmere Heights to attend the ribbon-cutting for the new Behavioral Health hospital. Bob Doolittle, Jane Hill, Betty Knight, and Lauren McGillicuddy were joined by Leah Emerson.

At least 100 people were in attendance, including State Senator Jason Lewis, Representatives Paul Donato and Kate Lipper-Garabedian, dignitaries from the State’s Division of Mental Health and of Hospitals, Mayor Gary Christenson, City Council President and Ward Three Councillor Amanda Linehan, and many other officials, elected and otherwise.

The speeches that accompanied the opening of this hospital dedicated to mental health were moving. As one example, Dr. Brent Forester, Tuft Medicine’s Director of Psychiatry, told of how his own father suffered a geriatric mental health crisis and how difficult it was to find him timely and appropriate care. Mayor Christenson pointed out that if he asked who had a loved one, past or present, dealing with a mental health challenge, almost everyone in attendance would raise their hand. The need for this specialized facility is clear.

The ribbon-cutting was followed by guided tours of the building and refreshments for those who could stay and enjoy them. Yours truly asked for and received a special escort to the recreation room with views over the Malden open space, catching glimpses of patient rooms and nursing stations along the way. The building is very handsome indeed; it feels welcoming and safe.

Initial staffing is being provided by employees of Melrose-Wakefield and Lincoln Memorial Hospitals, and the first group of patients is also coming from these hospitals. Final certification from the State requires review of the care of these initial patients. Once that is complete, the hospital will take patients as they have staff to care for them. And, importantly, the new hospital is hiring! For more information, go to: https://www.acadiacareers.com/us/en/tufts-medicine-behavioral-health-hospital.