I would love to see something like this in town and would be happy to be part of a conversation with Pierce House and COA. I would hope that others might join in who would anticipate using such a space. It may be a good short-term solution. I would still advocate for a more permanent space within the new Community Building ( if it goes forward). At the very least, I think it needs to be part of the programming so the architects could explore possible space options within their design. Thank you Sara for the Pierce House idea!
> On Sep 15, 2023, at 3:14 PM, Sarah Liepert <sarahliep...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Sara/Linda McMillan. What a great suggestion, which could be implemented > in the near term. Might COA and Pierce House staff connect to see about > having a community drop-in room (or rooms) soon? Copying Abigail Butt. > > Best, > Sarah Liepert > >> On Sep 15, 2023, at 2:43 PM, Sara Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Would the Pierce House meet such a need, if an accessible bathroom and >> entrance were better developed? >> There are lovely rooms (recently redecorated) that could hold comfy chairs. >> The kitchen meets catering standards so could also have coffee/tea & snacks >> available. >> Perhaps there could be some afternoon structured conversations, in addition >> to regular drop-ins. >> The separate rooms on the first floor lends themselves to different >> functions-quiet reading, conversation, card games…etc. >> >> Let’s make better use of this lovely gift to the town. >> >> Sara >> >> >> >> >> ------ >> Sara Mattes >> >> >> >> >>> On Sep 15, 2023, at 10:57 AM, Linda McMillan <mcmillanlin...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>> While I fully support the COA and have been a volunteer for many years, the >>> design of the new “Community Center” (at last I looked), does not support >>> one of the biggest program needs of seniors, that is, LONELINESS. There are >>> many seniors who have lost a spouse, or who live alone for various reasons >>> and are lacking connection to other people. Perhaps they don’t feel like >>> signing up for an exercise class, or want to learn a new language, or play >>> the ukulele, or attend a lecture, but they DO WANT to go to a place where >>> they can see other people, maybe even meet someone new, chat, and have a >>> cup of coffee or tea, and hang out. They would like comfy chairs, maybe >>> some magazines donated by “the community”, and a space where you don’t have >>> to talk in a whisper (like the library). A report released this year by the >>> US Surgeon General reported that about half of U.S. adults reported >>> experiencing measurable levels of loneliness. The report is titled “Our >>> Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” >>> >>> The Community Center building as currently designed (the last I looked) >>> does not have a welcoming, comfortable space like this. They have >>> utilitarian “activity rooms” and “lecture rooms”. I realize that building >>> costs have risen significantly and that the current cost of construction >>> and renovation pose significant challenges, but if the new “Community >>> Center” doesn’t have a space to tackle this incredibly important need of >>> seniors, then we are not seeing the forest for the trees, and I will not >>> support it. >>> >>> Linda McMillan >>> 207 Sandy Pond Road >>> >>>> On Sep 14, 2023, at 12:38 PM, Peter Buchthal <pbucht...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> My late father lived till he was 97 and was a big user of his local >>>> Council on Aging. They were fantastic and helped us out is innumerable >>>> ways as my late mother suffered from dementia. My father enjoyed his >>>> weekly senior lunch followed by a competitive game of scrabble with a >>>> local policeman. >>>> >>>> I support all Council on Aging programs, period. >>>> >>>> What I think the Community Center's committee hasn't yet made the case for >>>> is the following: >>>> >>>> 1) Without real average and mean numbers to COA's programs, I can not get >>>> behind the size of program rooms requested to provide all ongoing >>>> programs. The COA has only provided min and max numbers with huge >>>> variations that make over building very likely. Lincoln has a tendency to >>>> over build, that is why our school is much, much larger than we really >>>> needed by any standard. >>>> >>>> 2) The town has yet to disclose other competing capital expenditures in >>>> the pipeline for the town's tax resources. I have heard rumors that we >>>> soon will need to replace the drinking water pipes along many parts of the >>>> town. I have heard other rumors on lincoln talk, that our repaving and >>>> roadside path/bicycle safety wishes may also require additional town >>>> borrowings. >>>> >>>> 3) The arguments for the Hartwell Community Center being made to the town >>>> is a bit of a False Choice. We need to separate building or renovating a >>>> Senior Center of the correct size with "If you don't support this project, >>>> the town will never get a community center/ senior center that meets its >>>> needs." >>>> >>>> I want to build a new or renovated facility that is the correct size for >>>> our Senior Community. I have continuing doubts that it should be on the >>>> Hartwell campus. My late father was a terrible driver and I can't imagine >>>> purposefully placing our young children near senior drivers navigating >>>> parking lots. I keep reading in the newspapers that seniors drivers often >>>> have unintended accidents driving into buildings that involve putting >>>> their foot down on the gas pedal instead of the brake. Why are we >>>> unnecessarily setting ourselves up for a potential tragedy. >>>> >>>> Let's stop this rush to build and build a newly renovated Council on Aging >>>> somewhere else in town like the Pierce House. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Peter Buchthal >>>> 71 Weston >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 12:12 PM sally kindleberger >>>> <skindleber...@gmail.com <mailto:skindleber...@gmail.com>> wrote: >>>>> Thank you John Gregg for your thoughtful ideas about the Community >>>>> Center. We desperately need a Community Center that meets the needs of >>>>> the whole community. This Build is a long time coming! If the town >>>>> votes on a 50% or even 75% reduction in size from the original proposed >>>>> 100% >>>>> it will be a huge mistake. Programs won't be possible in the smaller >>>>> spaces. Why build something that does not meet the needs of the town? >>>>> And prices will only increase over time. If we continue to quibble and >>>>> bring up the same arguments and the same suggestions over and over, again >>>>> we will never have a Community Center. Prices will never come down. We >>>>> need to bite the bullet and build a useful space that works for the >>>>> community. >>>>> Visit community centers in other towns like Arlington,Bedford, Belmont, >>>>> and Wellesley,(And yes I know these are towns with bigger populations and >>>>> more money.) But we can build something that meets our needs if we just >>>>> do it. There are folks in this town with big houses and expensive cars. >>>>> Let's all dig deep and fund the build. >>>>> >>>>> On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 9:44 AM Laura Crosby <lauracros...@comcast.net >>>>> <mailto:lauracros...@comcast.net>> wrote: >>>>>> Thanks John , a lot to think about here. And yes, a good, well >>>>>> researched plan is being picked apart to such a degree that it may never >>>>>> happen. All of Lincoln could benefit greatly from a Community Center. >>>>>> And it will never cost less than it will if we move forward now. >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>> >>>>>>> On Sep 14, 2023, at 7:53 AM, john gregg via Lincoln >>>>>>> <lincoln@lincolntalk.org <mailto:lincoln@lincolntalk.org>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> If you build it they will come. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> You have services but no facility which makes it harder on the Parks >>>>>>> and Rec staff or LEAP to provide quality services to everyone. You >>>>>>> build a school with up to date facilities to help encourage people to >>>>>>> move to Lincoln with children, you provide elderly services to keep >>>>>>> families in the town, or even as families grow older the parents need >>>>>>> more assistance and move back with the kids to help provide the >>>>>>> necessary help instead of living alone. It gives flexibility and >>>>>>> leverage to attract people to the town and then keep those people there >>>>>>> instead of chasing people away because the overall view of Lincoln is >>>>>>> they are concerned with themselves, not others, not a very diverse >>>>>>> community of people live in the town. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Lincoln is a beautiful town, lots of history. close to Boston but from >>>>>>> the outside people do not want to move to Lincoln unless you fit the >>>>>>> criteria. School population is going down for several reasons, we moved >>>>>>> to Lincoln for the school and LSHS. My belief is that Lincoln needs to >>>>>>> take a look in the mirror and ask if they just want to be a town where >>>>>>> the priority is to continue to make Lincoln less welcoming to others or >>>>>>> make it more welcoming. There is no need to run more studies, or take >>>>>>> more census, the need is to understand and provide the necessary >>>>>>> services for children, parents, and the elderly of the Town a Community >>>>>>> Center makes Lincoln on par with other surrounding towns to be more >>>>>>> attractive to move into. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> If this was a discussion to put in EV Charging stations at the Commuter >>>>>>> Rail Parking lot for $10 Million dollars the project would already be >>>>>>> under way, why is it that hard to commit to provide positive services >>>>>>> to the community in general and society as a whole? A Community Center >>>>>>> to house programs for the elderly, LEAP facility for after school >>>>>>> programs that help working parents, a central housing area for Parks >>>>>>> and Rec Staff to provide other quality services makes a community more >>>>>>> centralized and welcoming. This entire discussion is eerily similar to >>>>>>> the School discussion, at that did not end well. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> “ The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over >>>>>>> again, but expecting different results” – Albert Einstein >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>>> John >>>>>>> 01776 >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 07:08:44 PM EDT, Peter Buchthal >>>>>>> <pbucht...@gmail.com <mailto:pbucht...@gmail.com>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Lynne, Karla and David make excellent points. One of the challenges >>>>>>> the town faces with the community center is the lack of trust in the >>>>>>> building committee to size >>>>>>> a COA/ParksRec building to meet our needs and not our wishes. I >>>>>>> believe the major hill the community is trying to climb is how many >>>>>>> seniors actually use the facilities today. >>>>>>> Parks and Recreation has provided actual attendance figures for all of >>>>>>> the activities. COA has provided only maximum and minimum numbers >>>>>>> without means or averages. The maximum and minimums for a particular >>>>>>> activity can vary greatly with the maximum being sometimes triple the >>>>>>> minimum headcount. For residents who are not awash in money, in may be >>>>>>> hard to justify building a larger council on aging for the occasional >>>>>>> activities that may need more space once every three months. Wayland, >>>>>>> a town with twice the senior population compared to Lincoln just built >>>>>>> a new Senior Center for 11 Million dollars. Their building that meets >>>>>>> the needs of a town with twice the senior population is 12,900 square >>>>>>> feet. Our small, medium and large Community Center proposals are 16K, >>>>>>> 18K or 20+k. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I believe the Building Committee should ask Fincom or the Select board >>>>>>> to fund a consultant to provide average and mean numbers from the COA >>>>>>> computer system so that the community can see the actual consistent >>>>>>> usage of today's COA. As someone who is familiar with computers, I >>>>>>> believe the town could easily also find several residents (representing >>>>>>> different groups within the town) who might volunteer their time to >>>>>>> provide the needed computer expertise to extract the needed average and >>>>>>> mean numbers from COAs computer system and generate more meaningful >>>>>>> usage statistics for the community. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Let's not overbuild a public building again. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Peter Buchthal >>>>>>> Weston Rd. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>>>>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org >>>>>>> <mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org>. >>>>>>> Browse the archives at >>>>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>>>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>>>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org >>>>>> <mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org>. >>>>>> Browse the archives at >>>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org >>>>> <mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org>. >>>>> Browse the archives at >>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >>>> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>>> Change your subscription settings at >>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >>> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >>> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >>> Change your subscription settings at >>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>> >> >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >>
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