I would like to add a different point of view to some points mentioned in previous threads:
*a) "The overwhelming choice of the large group of participants was to have the Center at Hartwell."* Let’s look at the history around the “vote”: - At a State of the Town meeting in 2015 - eight (8) years ago - attendees were given 2 dots - They could put their dots on two different choices or they could double down on their first choice - ALL choices given were ONLY about locating everything (for both Parks and Rec and COA) in one building - ALL choices were of equivalent cost (including those at Pierce House) because they all assumed new construction - NO choices were available that allowed for expressing preference for a combination of sites - 300 dots were placed, which means 150 out of the tax paying population expressed their preference I will leave to the reader’s interpretation if 150 out of a population of ~5K is an “overwhelming” majority, especially given this was 8 years ago. I will offer an alternative interpretation: IF everything has to be in one place, all together in one building, the majority of the 150 people attending that meeting expressed a preference for Hartwell. *We do not know what the results of the poll would have been if hybrid choices had been made available.* *b) “Five years or so ago, the assigned committees did an EXHAUSTIVE search for potential sites for a new Community Center including multiple open charettes to discuss locations”* - Again, the previous analysis was done eight years ago - It only looked at options where both Parks and Rec and COA were combined – “monolithic” approach. Not sure we can consider this "exhaustive". - The Pierce House proposal had an inflated cost because it assumed we needed a lot of additional square footage given the proposals were all for one single building to house both Parks and Rec and COA. - Pierce House was never objectively disqualified, but simply passed over when presented with a much cheaper Hartwell proposal since the Pierce House option included the need to build a lot of space. Well, that Hartwell proposal is no longer much cheaper, and I am not sure why we cannot revisit the option of remodeling Pierce House for some of our activities. *c) “The motion at town meeting was worded to develop options for a Center near Hartwell. That is the CCBC's charge. They are not charged with considering new locations.”* - The motion that was approved included the wording: “for the Hartwell Complex supplemented or not with existing available town space” so there is nothing that precludes the CCBC from looking at other sites. - From the extensive debate that happened in the lead-up to that motion and the recent Lincolntalk conversations, it seems that many of us thought that the CCBC would actually seriously consider community feedback of studying additional potential sites. *In these past 8 years, many things have changed, including a global pandemic, the building of a $90M+ oversized school with its significant burden to the town taxpayers and dwindling activity in Lincoln Station. The Community Center is a huge project for a town our size, and we should be looking for consensus and not limiting ourselves to only one location based on the choice of 150 people in 2015.*
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