I urge people not to put this project off. The escalation in building
costs in the last few years has been breathtaking. If we put it off, we
won't be able to afford it at all. The plan is not yet final. The
Committee will hear and act on your ideas. Give them a chance.
I am strongly in favor of separating out the costs for upgrading the
Leap building. The charge to the Community Center Committee did not
include the $3,000,000 needed to do this work. Reducing the size of the
Community Center because we have to include this unforeseen project is
not fair. I can see that doing the work on the Leap building at the same
time as the Community Center will save the town a lot of cost, but I
think that the Leap Project should be presented separately by the School
Committee and voted separately.
Ruth Ann Hendrickson
(She, her)
On 9/13/2023 7:39 AM, Lynn DeLisi, M.D. via Lincoln wrote:
Wednesday September 13, 2023
Dear LT,
I am posting my personal views, not as a member of the Town Planning
Board, but as one resident of this unique town. I want to thank the
Community Center Building Committee and the Architects for their hard
work for our Town over the last several months. However, after
listening to the Community Center Building Committee’s Forum last
evening, it has become very clear to me that the Town’s vision to
improve facilities for the COA cannot be accomplished on the school
site as “selected” by residents of the Town a few years ago. We hired
excellent architects who have listened to the committee and the public
now for several months and have come up with 3+ major plans,
recommending the middle priced one that is at 75% the original very
expensive estimate given to us last year. The lowest price option was
shown to be inadequate for COA activities and would be only as one
person said “moving the COA from one deficient site to another”.
It was also clear that remaining on the school site means we “must”,
according to the committee leadership, include in our community center
renovating or rebuilding space for the after school program called
“LEAP”, despite many residents giving input that this program is the
school’s responsibility and not that of a Community Center. In
addition there are safety issues related to traffic patterns,
increased cars and children walking or on bikes to get to and from
school and activities.
Furthermore, it was clear from the lack of discussion on the topic
last night, that there was no SERIOUS consideration by the committee
of other sites throughout Town that could be appropriate for a
community center, particularly COA functions. While Bemis Hall and the
Pierce House have been visited, no details about what it would take to
renovate them have been presented, nor has anyone taken the time to
investigate whether the Town could use other buildings or space,
historic or otherwise, along Lincoln Rd or nearby and renovate any of
them for a community center that at least houses the COA. Mainly, the
committee remains on the school campus because it is the best place
for Parks and Rec to be and many people want to mix generations in a
“Community Center for All”.
I would like to propose that a new Town Committee be formed of
concerned residents, who would still like to see the Town have a safe
and up-to-date improved space for a COA, to conduct activities, but do
not want taxes raised any further, and be a committee that SERIOUSLY
examines existing sites that could be renovated, even if it means the
cost of purchasing them for the Town. I would be happy to serve on
such a committee. In the mean time until this committee does its work,
we should put the Building Committee and architects on hold and not
have a special Town Meeting to vote on the School site options in
December. When Town’s residents selected the school site as the “best”
for a community center, they did not know what we know now.
Lynn DeLisi
125 South Great Rd
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