Hopkinton mulls Horseshoe Tavern fate

Hopkinton's Municipal Operations Improvement Committee recently presented the Hopkinton Board of Selectmen with a proposal for selling the Horseshoe Tavern.

Although the town has been trying to lease out the building, it has remained vacant for the past year.

The committee proposed selling the building with a parcel of town-owned land, to which the tavern could then be moved in order to make the building more appealing to potential buyers. However, the purchaser would not be required to move the building.

Committee member Arnold Coda highlighted their reasoning for packaging the land as two primary concerns with the building where it stands: a lack of parking and a lack of a real septic system.

"I think it's a great idea," commented Selectman Chris Lawless. "Get it off the dole so we can put it back to the tax payers."

Selectman Scott Flood questioned whether the building, which started as a blacksmith's shop and has since been added on to, could even be moved.

"Anything is possible," quipped committee member Lester Cressy.

Coda added that the three particular parcels of land the committee suggested packaging with the building were chosen because it would be easiest to move the building to one of those parcels of land.

Flood also questioned whether the committee had looked at the cost of moving the building.

Coda replied that the committee had wanted to bring the basic proposal to the board before looking into those specific details.

Chairman Tom Congoran expressed reservations about the proposal.

"When you start taking houses and putting them together with other property, you become a developer, which I don't think the town really wants to be," Congoran stated.

Instead, Congoran suggested the possibility of requiring the buyer to move the building to their own piece of property.

Coda was not opposed to Congoran's suggestion, but added that the parcels of land they had selected were rather large and could be divided into a parcel to sell and the rest could be conservation land, which would make it that much more attractive to buyers.

With only two and a half weeks left to write the warrant, Lawless pointed out the board will have to act on this proposal soon.

The board decided to seek answers for questions such as the septic system, costs associated with moving, and the potential for more parking before making a decision.