Acton celebrates ribbon-cutting for restored Asa Parland House after federal and local funding

Acton held a ribbon-cutting to open the restored Asa Parland House as a community center, with town and state leaders crediting a mix of federal earmarks, local American Rescue Plan Act funds and community preservation grants for making the project possible.

"What is this yellow house doing here behind town hall?" Town Manager John Manderati recalled asking when he started in 2018. Manderati opened the ceremony and credited years of volunteer work, multiple select boards and repeated community review for advancing the decades‑long restoration effort. He thanked the design team BH plusa (Deborah Robinson and Bennett Cheney) and general contractor Classic Construction (Mike Abraham, Brian Ganon and Kyle Lagardo) for completing the work and acknowledged staff and long-term contributors.

Congresswoman Tran, who presented an official congressional citation at the ceremony, said federal support and local choices combined to finish the project. "The ARPA bill was one of the easiest votes I ever took in Congress," she said, adding that the town allocated $600,000 in ARPA funds and that a $750,000 federal earmark provided a critical catalyst. She said the total federal contribution supporting the project was $1.3 million.

State Senator Jamie Eldridge praised the restoration, calling the preserved interior of the 1860 Greek Revival house "incredible" and thanking town building, planning and facilities staff for handling a difficult restoration. Representative Denilo Seta and a staffer from Representative Cataldo's office also presented a state House citation and noted the project's role in expanding space for constituent services and community meetings.

Select Board Chair Alyssa Nickel described the house, at 17 Woodbury Lane, as a longtime town-owned property whose future was debated for years before it was repurposed as a meeting and event space. Nickel said the restoration honored Acton's history while providing a "unique indoor‑outdoor space" for civic gatherings and cultural events.

Project supporters also credited community preservation committee awards, local matching funds and other grants for filling financing gaps. Organizers said the restored house will be available for meetings, cultural programming and small catered events and emphasized that community boards and volunteers helped refine the design through the town's design review and historic district processes.

The ribbon-cutting concluded a process that town officials said stretched across multiple select boards, staff teams and community engagement sessions. No formal votes or ordinance changes took place at the ceremony; speakers focused on thanking partners and announcing the building's availability for civic use.