The Wellesley Board of Selectmen earlier this week gave its blessing to Edge Sports Group‘s plan for a new sports center to be located at 900 Worcester St., where St. James the Great Church used to stand. The Wellesley Sports Center would include two skating rinks, two pools (operated by Charles River Aquatics), a turf field and a walking track, among other amenities, and Edge has agreed to show preference to locals, including youth hockey players and youth/school/senior swimmers.

Previously, the board had granted conditional approval, with a request for Edge Sports Group to answer a bunch of questions, including those related to financing, traffic mitigation and parking.

The 900 Worcester St. Committee had recently recommended that the BoS approve the plan for what it described as a strong private-public partnership. Those overseeing the hockey and aquatics groups within the 900 Worcester St. Committee gushed over the proposal at the BoS meeting.

The next steps for the town are finalizing the lease, determining how to rezone the property and working with the state transportation department on how to mitigate traffic (which will involve a new traffic light).

Tune in around the 20-minute mark of the video below from Wellesley Public Media to catch the BoS-Edge Sports action: