Tricia, I agree with you, and thankfully for the Harvard taxpayers, reason prevailed and they ended up with an outcome appropriately responsive to their needs.
But we have to be honest about this process and what’s going on - the folks at the CCBC feel strongly we need a new building, and they are spending $325,000 to design it. I have not heard anything to suggest that the CCBC will be evaluating ANY alternatives to a new building. They have clearly stated their position…. that we have already evaluated alternatives, and it’s time to build. Like you, I would love to see various proposals that are appropriately responsive to our actual needs, at price points that are reasonable. But I’m realistic that such proposals are not likely to appear because we aren’t investigating them. Right now is the time to insist that we see some reasonable proposals and approaches far below this arbitrary “minimum” $12.5m number. Seth Rosen Bedford Road > On May 13, 2023, at 12:56 PM, Tricia Thornton-Wells > <triciathorntonwe...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Dear Neighbors, > > I have now read the full article Karla attached, and I agree it offers an > important contrast. In the article, it is stated that the senior population > of Harvard is 1700, nearly identical to that of Lincoln. > > The key to Harvard’s success in lowering the cost of building a > community/senior center facility was their ability to identify a privately > owned business/commercial property in town that the owner was willing to > sell. They identified a medical facility (see Google pic below), whose > footprint was adequate, requiring only interior renovation, and an existing > large parking lot. Does anyone know of such a property in Lincoln??? I > certainly haven’t seen such a property among our limited non-residential, > non-conservation properties in town, but indeed residents should bring > forward any such properties, as that could solve our problem! > <image1.jpeg> > > > Please also note that their original $4+ Mil proposal involved new > construction adjacent to an existing historic house. > > Tricia Thornton-Wells > 112 Trapelo Rd > >>> On May 11, 2023, at 6:25 PM, Karla Gravis <karlagra...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >> >> The COA for the town of Harvard, MA is moving into a new site within the >> next 2 weeks. I believe their experience offers some very useful >> perspectives for our journey in Lincoln. >> >> I am attaching an article with all of the information, but here is a summary: >> >> Harvard has a population of ~7K, so 40% higher than Lincoln’s >> The Harvard COA used to be housed in 19th century Hildreth House. >> Hildreth House was not meeting the needs of the COA, so the town started the >> process 13 years ago (in 2010) with a municipal building study for the >> update and expansion of Hildreth House. >> After the initial safety and code compliance work was completed, a $4.5M >> renovation and expansion project was put to town vote. It did not pass as it >> was considered too expensive. >> COA then changed course to investigate the purchase and renovation of an >> existing building in town. >> The town received two responses to its property request and they chose a >> 5,400 sq. ft. former medical building, with lots of parking and conveniently >> located near the Post Office and town amenities like Foxglove, Bowers Brook, >> Harvard Green, and the McCurdy Track. >> The town purchased the building for $1.4M, and the renovation and other fees >> brought the total cost to $2.86M >> Hildreth House will now be used for the town land boards, since Town Hall is >> running out of space >> In addition to COA specific programming, the new building was designed to >> enable community use for events as well as serve as a warming/cooling >> station or shelter during extreme weather events. >> Food for thought: Harvard, with 40% more residents than Lincoln, spent >> ~$2.9M on a 5,400 sqft COA building that also allows community use for >> events, while still being responsible with historical buildings and >> addressing empty office space in town. If the Harvard COA changed course >> after many years of work, when it became clear the project was too >> expensive, why can't Lincoln do the same instead of tying ourselves to what >> was decided in 2015? >> >> <Harvard Senior Center Newspaper Article.docx> >> -- >> 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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