THE HARTWELL CAMPUS: OVERVIEW September, 2023 The Community Center Building Committee (CCBC) is developing plans for a community center on the Hartwell Campus at the Lincoln Public Schools. As part of this project, the CCBC seeks to ensure, at the very least, that a new facility will not disrupt the activities of the current Hartwell stakeholders, and that, more optimistically, the project may provide opportunities to enhance the existing arrangements.
To help inform the public conversation about the potential community center, the CCBC is sharing information about the Hartwell Campus and its stakeholders. The Hartwell campus includes: • The Hartwell Building; • The three Hartwell Pods; • A number of playgrounds and play areas; • The site of the former Strat’s playground; and • A parking lot. The stakeholders include: • Lincoln Extended-Day Activities Program (LEAP), which provides after-school programming for K-8 students; • Magic Garden Children’s Center, which is Lincoln’s only full-time pre-school childcare program; • The Lincoln Public Schools, which uses the Hartwell Campus for its administrative offices, for its maintenance shop and for the delivery and storage of school supplies. The Hartwell Campus is also the home of the Parks & Recreation Department (PRD), whose operations and programs would move into the new community center, and which also uses the Pods and play areas to operate the Lincoln Summer Day Camp. Additionally, many community organizations use the Pods and the Hartwell Multipurpose Room for meetings and other activities. *THE BUILDINGS* (The site of the former Strat’s Playground, not labeled on the map, is the relatively flat area south of the Hartwell Building.) The *Hartwell Building* is named after William Hartwell (1637–1690), a European settler who was mistakenly believed to be the first European settler in the part of Concord that became Lincoln in 1754. In fact, Hartwell owned land in Lincoln, but he dwelt in Concord and never built a home here. The Hartwell Building was built in 1958. Lincoln resident Lawrence B. Anderson was the Dean of Architecture at MIT, and an early proponent of modernism. His firm Anderson and Beckwith designed the original Smith School (in 1947) and the Hartwell Building. Today the Hartwell Building is the home of the Lincoln Public School administration, which occupies the second floor at the western end of the building, It is also the home for the Magic Garden Children’s Center, which provides education and care for children ages 2 – 5 years old in four classrooms at the eastern end of the building (with adjoining offices). The lower level also has the Hartwell Multipurpose Room, some additional office and activity spaces, and a large storage area for school supplies. The Lincoln School has comprehensively maintained and upgraded the Hartwell Building over the last 65 years, and the Community Center project would not touch that building (except insofar as some intervention will be necessary to separate the electric supply and the IT systems for the existing building and any new facility). The three *Hartwell Pods *date from 1959 (Pods A and B) and 1964 (Pod C). They were designed by Hoover and Hill Associates, and have served many functions over the past 60 years, housing variously Lincoln School classrooms, the Magic Garden Children’s Center, Friends of Lincoln Library, temporary Town Offices, and the school construction team. Currently, *Pod A *houses the PRD and a multipurpose fitness/activity space, and a classroom. *Pod B* houses the school maintenance workshop and two multi-use spaces. *Pod C* is the home of LEAP. The Lincoln Summer Day Camp uses all three Pods for nine weeks every summer. The roof of Pod C suffered damage recently from a falling tree, and insurance coverage allowed for the replacement of the roof and of the interior ceiling and lights. But all three Pods still have acute maintenance challenges – they need, at the very least: • new windows, • wall insulation, • roof insulation, • the removal of asbestos tiles from the ceilings and floors, • updated fire suppression equipment, and • updated heating equipment. Most of the CCBC plans therefore include funds for the demolition or complete renovation of the Pods. The exception is the lowest-budget option – Option #3 – which would leave Pod C as is. *PLAYGROUNDS* Magic Garden and LEAP use several playgrounds and fields on the Hartwell campus. The LEAP play areas are all open to all children at other times. Magic Garden has its own equipment on a playground, which may soon be dismantled, behind Pod B and on a toddler playground that adjoins the upper entrance to the Hartwell Building. The CCBC aims to preserve as much play area as possible on the site, and it has committed to providing equivalent play and playground areas for any that are affected by the project. The CCBC is also attentive to safety concerns, and is working to ensure that children can move around the Hartwell Campus without having to cross roadways, and that, as much as possible, the open play areas are set back from roadways and parking areas. On the Hartwell Campus, there is additionally the large open area south of the Hartwell Building that was previously the site of Strat’s Playground. The playground, named for Mike Stratton, a former teacher at the Carroll School who ran its Bounders program of outdoor adventures based on the Maine Outward Bound program, was built in 1989, but closed and taken down for safety reasons in 2014. After the playground was built in 1989, safety codes and materials changed significantly. The closure came after an aborted inspection that revealed so many problems that the inspection was halted. It was recognized that the playground had reached the end of its useful life. At the time there were no plans to rebuild, as the recommendation was to evaluate what the future of that space could be, what were the community’s needs, and to do a ground-up assessment of what might be the best use. Today, this play area needs some clean-up work and new fencing, but would provide a good location for a suitable outdoor play space for the children. The current Community Center budget includes funding for the upgrade of this area, though it is possible that the work could be funded through the Community Preservation Act. *LEAP* The Lincoln Extended-day Activities Program, Inc. (LEAP) is a self-supporting non-profit organization, independent from both the public school system and the Lincoln Recreation Department, which provides an after-school program on the Hartwell Campus. LEAP’s mission is to provide the children of working parents with a nurturing after-school program that offers diverse opportunities for enrichment, exploration, and development of social skills. LEAP is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. LEAP, established in 1981 by a group of Lincoln parents who needed safe and dependable after-school care for their children, began in a single room with a part-time director and a handful of students. Today, LEAP has dedicated space in Hartwell Pod C with full-time directors and more than a dozen full-time and part-time qualified staff members, and the program serves more than 150 children. LEAP is open every weekday from school dismissal until 6 p.m. for children in kindergarten through eighth grade when school is in session. Staff members from LEAP walk children who are in grades K-5 in a group from the Smith building to LEAP. Older children may walk to LEAP by themselves. LEAP’s on-campus location allows the program to take full advantage of the Lincoln School playgrounds and athletic fields. The program includes time for completion of homework assignments, with potential tutoring help. Children are escorted to any activity that takes place on campus, including the Lincoln After School Music Program (LASMP), Recreation Department activities, sports, music lessons, play rehearsals, Scout meetings, and language classes. Pod C, built in the 1960s as an overflow classroom, has been repurposed by LEAP. The four classrooms provide useful space for younger children, and allow some more dedicated areas for older children. Recently, a tree fell and destroyed part of the roof. With insurance coverage, this allowed the replacement of the roof, interior ceilings and lights. However, and the building is in strong need of new doors and windows, and further renovation of the restrooms, kitchenette, heating and air conditioning. *MAGIC GARDEN* Magic Garden Children’s Center is a not-for-profit full day preschool and childcare center, founded on the principle that children learn best by engaging in a diverse curriculum of hands- on activities. In its warm and nurturing environment, children find friendship and support as they broaden their understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them. Children are empowered to be confident in their individual identities, respectful of different perspectives, and aware of the rich diversity of their community and world. Magic Garden seeks to cultivate children’s natural curiosity and promote a lifetime love of learning. Magic Garden provides education and care for children ages 2 months to 5 years of age. The school was established in September 1982 by a group of parents and teachers who were concerned about the limited availability of quality childcare in Lincoln and the neighboring towns of Lexington, Concord, Sudbury, Wayland and Weston. Magic Garden, the result of their grassroots efforts, became the first full-time facility in the area to be licensed by the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). Today, Magic Garden continues to be an integral part of the Lincoln educational community and a valuable resource to the young families who live and work nearby, and town employees. Magic Garden acknowledges the significant relationship between teachers, students, and families, and encourages continuous collaboration in a climate of mutual respect, cooperation and shared responsibility. Magic Garden is overseen by a Board of Directors comprised of parents, staff and community members who are elected by the school community annually. The Children’s Center is located at 6 Ballfield Road, in the Hartwell building on the Lincoln Public School’s Campus. Magic Garden is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and has programs for early arrival (7:30 am). Core day (8:00 am to 3:00 pm) and extended day (3:00 pm to 5:00 pm). *LINCOLN SCHOOL* The CCBC plans take account of the many ways in which the Lincoln School uses the Hartwell Campus. These uses include the administrative offices, the maintenance workshop (that is currently in Pod B), the school storage area in the Hartwell Building -- which needs continued access by delivery trucks – the swing spaces in the Hartwell Building, and the pedestrian and bicycle routes that traverse the Hartwell Campus. The CCBC plans would integrate the pedestrian and bicycle paths through the Hartwell Campus with the existing pathways around Ballfield Road, to improve safety for students arriving at school or traveling from the school buildings to Hartwell.
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