Hi Laura, Thank you for bringing this qualitative oversight to my attention. I have done my best to complete the benchmarking with the limited information available online. Differently from other towns, Weston does not keep online property cards, which makes data collection more challenging. The aspect of the building from the outside is that of an old barn, but it seems like that was an architectural goal. Having found a few online pictures I would agree that the feel of the building is different from Bemis Hall. The square footage per resident remains the same though, 1.9 sqft per resident in Weston versus 4.9 sqft in Lincoln. Lincoln's CC proposal calls for a bigger facility despite having a population almost 60% lower.
Here are the link so folks can check all the statistics I used in my table: - The population and senior data for every town comes from the US Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/carlisletownmiddlesexcountymassachusetts Sherborn and Hanscom AFB are not reported in the decennial census as their population is less than 5,000. Their population comes from the Annual Community Survey https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US2528425-hanscom-afb-ma/ Hanscom's population has been extracted from Lincoln's, with the exception of residents of a small barrack located at 75 Grenier St Bedford. According to Bedford's town clerk there are 7 Hanscom residents in Bedford, all of them living in that address. For consistency we have also used Lincoln's ACS rather than the decennial census population, but the difference between the two is very small, just 22 people. - Sherborn's COA activities are conducted in the Town Hall. Rooms there have many uses. https://www.sherbornma.org/council-aging - Carlisle's COA is hosted at 66 Westford St, here is a picture of the outside https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89e39844132de7cb%3A0x5f45cc21e1f4fe28!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMJvqTxXGIOQHz0lf5g99guTryPa4RYeX7xHP04%3Dw213-h160-k-no!5scarlisle%20coa%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMJvqTxXGIOQHz0lf5g99guTryPa4RYeX7xHP04&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiN-tPgman7AhV-D1kFHb9uBaIQoip6BAhUEAM The square footage is estimated. We have not found a property card. - Harvard's COA. The square footage information comes from a study they did 9 years ago for a Community Center that was ultimately scrapped https://www.harvard-ma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif676/f/uploads/13-0219_hth_presentation.pdf The town continues to use Hildreth House, here is a picture of the outside https://www.harvard-ma.gov/council-aging - Weston's CC square footage data can be found in the CCBC's 2018 report. COA and CC square footage data can also be found in this Wayland comparison: https://www.wayland.ma.us/council-aging/community-center-project-coacc/faq/how-does-proposed-coacommunity-center-compare-other As you can see in the table, according to this Wayland committee, Weston only devotes 3,000 sqft purely to COA with almost twice as many seniors as Lincoln. - Wayland's data comes from the same site referred above. Wayland is contemplating a new CC/COA, but their needs are roughly half of Lincoln's despite a population almost three times larger. - Concord's Harvey Wheeler's square footage and building's age comes from its property card https://gis.vgsi.com/concordma/Parcel.aspx?Pid=3623 - Sudbury's square footage from page 51 of this presentation https://sudbury.ma.us/selectboard/wp-content/uploads/sites/260/2020/03/Fairbank-Community-Center-Presentation.pdf?version=754df18a8e0dad6cf6cb1df29135bd62 We have added the square footage from common areas, shared spaces, senior center and recreation to establish an apples to apples comparison. The cost per square footage is estimated dividing the project cost by the total new square footage. - Newton data comes from this Boston Globe article, but you can find municipal sources if you look for them https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/09/metro/newton-city-council-approves-funding-replace-senior-center-with-larger-facility/#:~:text=and%20break%20ground%20on%20the,in%20a%20statement%20Monday%20night Happy to answer any more questions about the data. Hopefully we hear the CCBC comment on Monday on the disproportion in space and cost per resident/senior for their CC/COA proposal versus every other town in this list. On Sat, Nov 12, 2022 at 11:41 AM Laura Crosby <lauracros...@comcast.net> wrote: > Hi Karla, > Thanks for your message. I’d like to > mention one thing….. > Don’t know about your other statistics > here but do have one correction: > Weston MA does not have “an old > building compared to Bemis.” > They have a beautiful, relatively new, > large building to house their community > activities including space for their COA. > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Nov 12, 2022, at 11:17 AM, Karla Gravis <karlagra...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Dear fellow Lincoln residents, > > > > I have closely followed the discussion around the $25M Community Center > proposal and would like to take the opportunity provided by the Committee’s > Vision memorandum to expose what I see as flaws in the process of proposal > selection. > > > > *We need to remember that building this Center will represent an average > 9% increase in property taxes, which represents an additional $1,700 for > the average Lincoln homeowner every year. There needs to be a valuable need > and purpose to justify this burden on our families, and it is our duty to > explore more cost-responsible alternatives.* > > > > The benchmarking process was based on a series of wrong assumptions. We > lost track of what other towns of our size were doing, and instead created > a list of requirements out of proportion to our size and needs. *This > project would build a more expensive and bigger building than those found > in towns many times our population*. Neighboring towns with populations > up to three times ours do not build Community Centers; their COA and PRD’s > facilities share modest dwellings with other town facilities, on a scale > comparable to Bemis Hall or Pierce House. Even for those towns that do have > a community center, the current Lincoln proposal is four times the median > space per resident. The disproportion is similar when we consider dedicated > COA space per senior resident. > > > > This morning’s letter still does not clarify the expected use of a > building of this scale. As has already been mentioned, a community is built > by a shared purpose, not by a building. What we need is more volunteers who > are interested in amplifying or creating communities of shared interest. We > already have more than enough space and facilities across our brand-new > school, Bemis Hall, the library and potentially Pierce House. *Why not > renovate the pods and use one of them for this purpose? Even refurbishing > all three pods would be less than a fifth of the expense of the proposed > new community center. * > > > > We struggle with a reduced commercial footprint. If folks are looking for > a place to have a cup of coffee, eat something, and see some friendly > faces, they can do that while they support local businesses like Twisted > Tree or Tack Room. > > > The biggest issue I see with the communication sent this morning is the > so-called disqualification of Bemis Hall and Pierce House as alternatives. > At a State of the Town meeting eight years ago, a series of equivalent > proposals, in size and cost, were put in front of attendees and they were > asked to post a yellow dot on the poster representing their preferred > option. Pierce House was one of the options proposed and there was nothing > that disqualified it, as evidenced by the fact it was put to a vote. > Attendees were forced to make a false choice between, among others, the > Hartwell campus proposal, estimated at $9.5-13.5MM at the time, and a > much-inflated Pierce House proposal, estimated at $8-11MM due to the plan > to build an attached facility, excessive given our size. *Pierce House > was never objectively disqualified, but simply passed over when presented > with a much cheaper Hartwell proposal.* > > > > The studies referenced in the memo were conducted *as long as a decade > ago*. Obviously, there are a lot of new faces in town who might have > different opinions on how resources should be allocated and even those who > have stayed should have another say on the use of the town’s monies. Our > resources now are not what they were at that time, and perhaps neither are > our needs, so altered by new habits resulting from the pandemic. The cost > of building the Center has also multiplied since then. > > > > I urge residents to *attend the Special Town Meeting in the Donaldson > Auditorium on* *November 30th at 7:30pm*, and vote. Up until recently, > the CCBC seems to have been moving towards a narrow objective; it is > imperative that a wide range of perspectives be heard. > > > > Town Pop. 65+ COA/PRD/CC facility COA/PRD/CC Sqft Sqft per resident Dedicated > COA space sqft Sqft per 100 seniors Notes > Sherborn 4,324 692 No N/A 0 0 No dedicated COA space, shares a couple of > rooms in the town hall > Carlisle 5,181 958 No N/A 3,500 3.7 Old private house, approximate sqft > Harvard 6,844 1,116 No N/A 4,813 4.3 19th century house > Weston 11,666 2,427 Yes 22,000 1.9 9,000 3.7 Old building comparable to > Bemis Hall > Wayland 13,724 2,470 No N/A 2,500 1.0 The town is considering a new > facility with 3,000 sqft of COA space > Sudbury 19,059 2,935 Yes 22,079 1.2 5,754 2.0 Estimated cost of $600/sqft > (including pool & gym) vs. $1,000 for Lincoln > Concord 18,184 3,728 Yes 12,496 0.7 12,496 3.4 1917 building shared with > preschool > Newton 87,453 16,004 3 sports facilities N/A 33,000 2.1 COA cost of > $19.5M, 20% less than Lincoln with 12x as many seniors > Median 1.2 2.7 > Lincoln 4,756 1,332 4,270 3.2 Bemis Hall > Lincoln new proposal 23,500 4.9 11,750 8.8 Assumes 50% of space devoted > to COA > > On Thu, Nov 10, 2022 at 8:37 AM Krystal Wood < > ccbccommunicationscommit...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Community Center Building Committee- November, 2022 >> >> >> *The vision: what is a Community Center, and why would Lincoln want to >> buildone?* >> >> A Community Center not only reflects the community at whose heart it >> sits, it >> strengthens that community. A Community Center is a year-round, >> intergenerational >> gathering place and activity center. A Community Center is a locus for a >> wide variety of activities – health and fitness, social services, learning, >> eating, socializing, creating, playing, participating. A Community Center >> enriches the community by fostering organizational collaboration and by >> housing an array of programs, for all ages. >> >> At its heart, the Community Center is a home for the Lincoln Council on >> Aging & Human Services and the Parks & Recreation Department, both of which >> do much more than most people realize, and both of which run constrained >> programs in their current homes. The Community Center also provides a base >> for 25 other community organizations whose work is critical to the quality >> of life in Lincoln. But the vision of a Community Center on the Lincoln >> School campus is of a building that exists not only to serve important >> organizational needs and to optimize programming, though those might be >> adequate reasons for building a new building, it is also of a building that >> will attract residents of all ages to gather for coffee and meetings and >> informal activities. >> >> Lincoln has a sense of community – we have impromptu encounters at the >> transfer >> station and at Donelan’s, we have annual events like the Scarecrow >> Classic, the Girl >> Scouts Pancake Breakfast, the July 4 parade, and we have Town Meeting. >> But the >> everyday contribution of a Community Center to the life of the community >> and to the >> sense of community can be far greater, and the possibilities are exciting >> – because the number of people using the Center will be so much higher, >> because the range of >> activities will be much greater, because the opportunities for >> intergenerational >> interaction will expand, because the provision of social services will be >> improved and >> the organizations providing those services will be more robust. >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. >> 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. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > 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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