Framingham City Hall To Return To Pre-Pandemic Hours

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham's main municipal building will return to pre-pandemic hours on Monday, a sign that officials are hopeful the coronavirus pandemic is on the wane.

The May 3 return to normal hours comes after the Memorial Building, 150 Concord St., reopened in March with reduced hours. The building first closed in March 2020, reopened in May 2020, and then closed again in December during the rise of the second coronavirus wave.

The building's hours will be Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m .to 5 p.m., Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. — that's about five more hours per week than in recent weeks.

The main front doors of the Memorial Building will remain locked, and the building will still follow state capacity limits. Visitors will need to wear masks and practice social distancing.

Also this week, City Council Chair George King Jr. raised the possibility that City Council could start meeting in-person as soon as June inside the Memorial Building. Vice Chair Adam Steiner suggested that the Council should retain some of its pandemic-era features for good, including remote participation and broadcasting meetings online.

Coronavirus cases in Framingham have been dropping in recent weeks. City officials reported 12 new cases between Monday and Wednesday and no new deaths.