I do hope there is a motion on the floor to add an additional choice of "None of the Above" to the three choices of the Community Center.
I am not an architect, nor a builder, but I think I have some common sense. The average square footage being added to the Hartwell Campus for the three Community Center choices is 15,933 square feet. How many people do we expect to visit the Community Center at any one time? In order for it to be fully used, not a white elephant, let's just say I hope we are building the Community Center to host 50 to 100 people during many days and times. Where do we expect everyone to park? We have approximately 50 spaces near the new Community Center and they are well taken at many times of the day, especially during drop off and pickup of Magic Gardens, after school, pickup from Leap, and when any activity occurs at the main Hartwell building that houses a new training facility for the School District and the Hartwell Multi purpose room. I believe the new community center (not including Leap) will only be used from 9AM to 2PM for safety reasons to avoid little children running in the parking lot. In all three options being proposed for the community center, we are adding only 13 spots along Ballfield road. Where will everyone park? I support the suggestion to move a new community center to the revitalized Lincoln Mall. Those 50 to 100 people who visit the community center at one time will be great anchor users of Twisted Tree, Donelans, the Tack room and other retailers who we claim to want to support. Peter Buchthal Weston Rd On Fri, Dec 1, 2023 at 7:54 AM Ken Hurd <kenh...@keha.com> wrote: > Hello LincolnTalkers, > With apologies for expressing yet again my strongly held opinion as an > architect concerned with what we build in Lincoln, I want to remind > everyone why I and many others believe we should not build a community > center on the school campus. I still believe it should be located in > Lincoln Station, particularly now that our small commercial area is in play > because of the Housing Choice Act. > > As I wrote last year, "I fully support building a new facility, but it > has long been my opinion that such a major investment by the town should be > deployed where it is most needed - namely in the Lincoln Station area. For > more than ten years since Town Meeting approved the Comprehensive Long > Range Plan, in which the revitalization of Lincoln Station was > overwhelmingly one of the highest priorities, the area has lain dormant and > in serious need of a catalyst to jumpstart its transformation into the > compact, vital, walkable village center that was a stated goal at the > time. A community center in such a location would be the equivalent of an > anchor store in a retail setting, and by virtue of attracting more people > on a regular basis, it would create more opportunities for a clustered > cross-current of activities spawning greater social interaction." > > As many will recall at last year’s Town Meeting, there was serious concern > about the cost to build it, and I am of the opinion that there are better > ways to accomplish this than spending anywhere from $18 to $24 million of > taxpayer money to do so. As was recently suggested to me by an experienced > urban planner, why not include the Community Center as a required > accessory use in the development of a future residential project at > Lincoln Station? > > As he said, “With clear program requirements and project parameters to > guide the design of a new project, developers can be very efficient in > realizing a good project on time and within budget.” Moreover, “It would > be a plus to any potential developer's proforma to have a confirmed tenant > (assuming COA long-term lease) for … an active community use in purposely > designed ground level space. This strategy would minimize the cost to > Lincoln upfront financing for design and construction, replace public > project inefficiencies with professional development expertise, and as such > the new Community Center facility may be more affordable to the town's > stressed taxpayers." > > As I also wrote last year, I believe it would constitute the classic > suburban planning error to create a new facility that stands alone at the > school and, like the suburban mall, accessible only by car. In addition, > because of school protocols, there would be very limited inter-generational > co-mingling until after school hours, if at all. And, even if there > weren’t a greater awareness about the effects of climate change, wouldn’t > it make far more sense to locate a community center where there are already > other crucial services such as the post office, grocery store, cleaners, a > cafe and restaurant, not to mention the potential for more housing? > > Earlier this week I wrote the Selects about including an option to vote > for “None of the Above” at tomorrow’s Town Meeting. Absent any response, I > plan to vote for Option 3 ($12.5 million project cost) that has already > been characterized as not sufficient to provide services comparable to what > we already have at Bemis. > > Please join me in rejecting the more expensive options 1 and 2 in order to > redirect our efforts to take advantage of this moment in time to be far > more creative, innovative and holistic in how we design and fund a > Community Center that can also help transform Lincoln Station to its full > potential as a truly vital, walkable village center. Remember, > > we humans *shape our environments* at a moment in time, > > and *then they shape us* for decades to come. > > Respectfully, > Ken Hurd > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > 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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