Orchard Hills owner still waits for his expansion to start
When it takes three towns to agree, it’s never quick
Tucked next to a desk in Tim Richards’ cluttered, windowless office in Lancaster’s Orchard Hills Athletic Club is a nearly forgotten site drawing, its paperboard yellow and stained.
Faded and stuffed away, the drawing shows a planned expansion at Orchard Hills, which Richard has operated for more than 20 years. According to barely legible type in the bottom-right corner, it dates to May 1997. Now, a decade later, Richards shows off the relic not as the first step in a finished project, but as hope for the future.
More than 10 years ago, Richards conjured up plans to expand Orchard Hills, which he’d developed from a relatively small tennis club to a full-service fitness facility. Potential lessees, he said, came running, drawn to his vision of an increased partnership with the region’s medical community, including HealthAlliance Hospital.
But ground never broke on Richards’ new development. What took place instead is a study in the difficulties and frustrations often faced by small business owners whose plans are tied to more than one community.
An unexpected complication
The late-1990s expansion would have pushed the club past the limits of its septic system, but the answer seemed simple: the club, located on Duval Road near MassHighway’s Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center, would simply tap into Leominster’s nearby sewer system, utilizing a new line along Route 2 originally intended to serve Pioneer Industrial Park.
It wasn’t so easy.
Leominster, Lunenburg and Lancaster were appropriated a total of $2.5 million in state funds for the sewer line project, and Orchard Hills and MassHighway offered to chip in for design and construction costs, contingent upon inter-municipal agreements between the towns. Though Lunenburg signed off relatively quickly, the agreement between Leominster and Lancaster stalled. For years, town and city politics kept the issue rejected, tabled or ignored altogether – and all the while, Richards (who says he’s invested nearly $10 million in improvements since buying the club) could only watch and wait.
As the project languished, state officials seemed to lose interest. The bond guaranteeing the funding expired in 2004, and needed to be extended in June 2005, according to Wendy Wiiks, economic development coordinator for state Sen. Bob Antonioni.
"The truth is, it’s hard to get three groups of elected or appointed officials to agree with one another," Richards said.
In the meantime, Richards made headlines by appearing at public meetings in Lancaster and declaring that he wanted to become the town’s "No. 1 taxpayer."
Lancaster and Leominster finally came to an agreement last month, 10 years after the project started, according to Lancaster Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco.
More waiting
Today, Orchard Hills is a 70,000-square-foot facility (up from 30,000 when Richards took ownership) on more than 18 acres (up from five). It leases space to HealthAlliance Hospital and the Cheer Central cheerleading school. But Richards sees more for his 120-employee business – a multi-million dollar project, featuring an expanded building where the parking lot currently sits, housing a dedicated warm-water therapy pool and thousands of square feet of office space. Especially important to Richards, he said, is a greater link with the region’s mental health facilities.
However, the extended sewer line must be designed, engineered and, ultimately, constructed – a matter complicated by its planned route under the Fitchburg commuter rail line.
"It’s still a couple years before we can break out the champagne, pour it down the toilet and flush it," Richards said.
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