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. >
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