Hi Karla, Not taking a side but you wrote: - Harvard has a population of ~7K, so 40% higher than Lincoln’s
I did want to point out that according to the 2020 Census, Lincoln's population is/was 6,941 and Harvard's population is/was 6.851 so I was unsure where you got your population figures or if I misunderstood them. *source: * https://malegislature.gov/Redistricting/MassachusettsCensusData/CityTown On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 6:26 PM Karla Gravis <[email protected]> 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? > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > 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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