The building that once housed Belmont's public-access television studios is getting a very different kind of makeover. Firebox Pottery Studio has signed a lease for the entire 3,800-square-foot space at 9 Lexington Street in Waverley Square, and founder Harshad Ghodke plans to fill it with 17 pottery wheels, a dedicated kiln room, and areas for everything from handbuilding to glaze mixing before opening this fall.
Ghodke, a ceramicist who moved to the Boston area from Connecticut, spent about a year searching for a local pottery studio of his own before deciding to build one instead, according to WhatNow. Before turning to ceramics, he worked as a biophysical scientist and enzyme-engineering researcher, a background detailed by Mesh. Per that profile, Ghodke developed the studio concept after running into long waitlists and material restrictions at existing Boston-area studios.
The 9 Lexington Street building was, until recently, home to the Belmont Media Center, the nonprofit that ran the town's public-access TV studios and a community art gallery out of the space. The organization relocated its headquarters to the new Belmont Public Library to cut operating overhead amid declining cable franchise fees, according to The Belmont Voice. That move freed up a rare commercial space with the high ceilings, central skylight, and heavy electrical capacity that a working ceramics studio actually needs.
Why This Building Won Out
Ghodke chose the address specifically because it offered high electrical capacity for electric kilns, exterior ventilation, and enough layout separation to manage water and clay dust across different work zones, per the studio's own account. Finding commercial real estate built to handle those heavy electrical loads and clay wastewater is one of the biggest hurdles for urban ceramics studios, a challenge the studio has flagged in its own planning. The space will be divided into four dedicated studio areas covering classes, independent practice, handbuilding, events, glaze mixing, clay reclaim, storage, firing, reception, and finished work.
Firing will happen in electric kilns reaching Cone 6, a mid-fire stoneware range of roughly 2,232 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Clay Network. That temperature is widely used in modern shared studios because it produces fully vitrified, durable pottery while burning significantly less energy than high-fire Cone 10. The studio's name itself refers to the firebox, the part of a kiln where heat is generated, per the studio's site.
Classes Start This October
Firebox plans to launch its first six-week course semester in October, opening with beginner-level Foundations 1 classes alongside Foundations 2 and project-focused intensives. Completing a full semester course will serve as the primary path for members who eventually want independent open-studio access. Once ready, memberships will run month-to-month or in 3-, 6-, and 12-month terms, each requiring an orientation, liability waiver, code of conduct agreement, and a review of outside materials before granting unsupervised access, a vetting step meant to keep unapproved clays and glazes from damaging the shared electric kilns.
The studio is also building out its staff ahead of opening, hiring ceramics instructors, a studio technician, a studio assistant, and an event lead. Notably, Firebox is recruiting an Adaptive Ceramics Lead to serve makers who need physical or cognitive accommodations, a role that WhatNow notes reflects a broader push toward accessible programming. Beyond formal classes, the studio plans monthly potlucks, date nights, and Make Your Own Mug events aimed at building community around the wheel.
A Crossroads Location With Easy Transit
Waverley Square sits at the tri-point of Belmont, Watertown, and Waltham, putting the new studio within reach of all three communities. The location is served by MBTA Bus Route 73 and the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line at Waverley Station, according to the studio's own account of the site, with Route 73 functioning as a high-frequency connector running straight into Harvard Square in Cambridge. Ghodke has spent the past several months building an interest list for the studio and says the response from Belmont and surrounding towns has been encouraging.
The studio arrives at a moment when pottery studio space across Greater Boston and New England has been harder to come by, with business shifts and closures, including the cancellation of some expansion studios earlier this year, limiting where hobbyists can find open wheels, as Hoodline previously reported. High capital costs and zoning constraints tend to keep new community ceramics facilities from opening quickly, which makes Firebox's buildout notable on its own. An exact opening date still depends on remaining buildout work and necessary town approvals, according to WhatNow's reporting, leaving the studio's October class launch as the clearest timeline so far.
