I am concerned that we might be planning to build considerably more space than is required. We were shown data that attendance at most of the programs sponsored by the Council on Aging were attended by only a small handful of individuals. Extravagant building plans will not only unnecessarily infringe on the green spaces of the Hartwell campus but will also impart unnecessary ecological costs associated with building, heating, cooling and maintaining an unnecessarily large structure. What a proposal for a community that prides itself in being green!
Let us not repeat the same mistake that we made by overbuilding the school to the point that some residents have recently been musing about ways to increase the birth rate. Orest Hurko, M.D. *22 Old Sudbury Road* *Lincoln MA 01773-4805* *USA* *Home +1 781 257 5163* *Mobile +1 781 469 6810* On Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 3:41 PM Lynne Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > Below is a copy of the article that appeared in the Lincoln Squirrel > today.-----------My Turn: CCBC meetings focus on building size and > parking lot > > June 19, 2023 > > By Lynne Smith > > > <https://lincolnsquirrel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/myturn-sm-feb2021.jpg> > > One of the reasons many of us suggested looking at other buildings in town > to host programs for seniors was to reduce the size of buildings required > on the small Hartwell campus. The space there is precious, especially the > green space that hosts the approximately 150 children at LEAP and Magic > Garden. Concerns about the size of the buildings and the location of the > parking lot were discussed at both the June 13 public forum and the June 14 > regular CCBC meeting. > > At the public forum, ICON architect Ned Collier presented five site plans > illustrating five cost levels. The plans included a variety of buildings: a > new two-story building, a new one-story building, and renovations of > existing pods. All plans required removal of the existing parking lot and a > new one installed at the back of the building. All plans included the same > cost of $3.5 million for site work. (Full description of the plans and > the meeting included in the Lincoln Squirrel on June 14 > <https://lincolnsquirrel.com/2023/06/architects-unveil-cost-estimates-for-community-center/> > and > on the Lincoln Community Center website > <https://lincolncommunitycenter.com/>.) > > Committee members and public attendees were seeing these plans for the > first time and it was a lot to take in. I appreciated the printed version > provided to those of us attending in person. For the 35 people on line, it > must have been difficult to process so much information. Collier cautioned > us that these were not “designs” but site plans. > > For those of us who were hoping for a viable low-cost option, the site > plan labeled 2A was a good start. The plan called for housing programs in > 10,000 square feet located in total renovation of pods A and B. Many in > town believe that 9,000 to 10,000 square feet is sufficient for > accommodating all the “needed” programs. However, as with all five plans, > the parking lot behind the building came at the expense of the green space. > Parents of children at LEAP and Magic Garden expressed concern as they > realized what the loss of the playing areas would mean to the > approximately150 after-school and preschool children. > > At the June 14 meeting, CCBC Chair Sarah Chester announced the agenda as a > discussion of the comments from the forum the night before. Instead, > committee members spent over an hour discussing the siting of the parking > lot but did not reach a consensus decision. The discussion was important, > but it should have been conducted in a working group weeks ago with ICON > providing topography and other technical information. > > The parking discussion delayed a topic that was at the core of the > comments at the public forum: the attendance data that supports the > required square footage. COA Director Abby Butt has provided a great deal > of data but it does not include numbers for “actual attendance.” Serious > people in Lincoln are asking for this data because they don’t want to > support a building that is larger than required. Susan Taylor commented > that this information is critical for answering community questions about > the actual size required to meet program needs. Peter von Mertens suggested > that these numbers be gathered for COA programs. (PRD attendance data has > already been posted on the CCBC website > <https://lincolncommunitycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/PRD-Attendance-Jun-2022-May-2023.pdf>.) > Jonathan Dwyer volunteered to help Butt develop these numbers and bring > them back to the committee in the next week or two. Collier said that ICON > needed confidence that this number was solid for final development of the > schematic design. > > In the last few minutes of the meeting as it opened to the public, Dennis > Picker read a prepared set of comments about ways to reduce the amount of > “shared space” by utilizing existing town-owned buildings. He had carefully > looked at the programs listed for the COA and concluded that about 1,500 > square feet of space could be saved by having several regular programs at > the Pierce House and Bemis Hall. Locating these programs off site would > mean that a 9,000-to-10,000-square-foot option on the Hartwell campus would > not leave out valuable programs. He also proposed minimizing the amount of > area devoted to lobby, reception area, and waiting rooms. > > We need to consider carefully Picker’s suggestion, COA attendance data, > and the location of the parking lot. I believe there is an opportunity to > put a new building on the existing footprint of Pod A and leave the parking > lot where it is. We could then do a slight remodel of Pod B so it could > continue to be used for the maintenance facility and COA and PRD programs. > That will save the wonderful green space and play areas at the back of the > building. If the parking lot is undisturbed, we might not have to worry > about the wetlands setback and the site work would be minimized. A walkway > to the Brooks Gym parking lot could be used for additional parking. > > The committee will have one more meeting in June to confirm the attendance > data, square footage required, and site plans so ICON can proceed with > design over the summer. CCBC will schedule one meeting in July and one in > August with ICON. These meetings will be posted on the community center > website. As always, I urge everyone in town to participate in these > meetings before we make a final decision on the community center. > ------------------------------ > > “My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or > views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be > signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to > [email protected]. Items will be edited for punctuation, > spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the > editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other > inappropriate material will not be published. > Lynne Smith > 5 Tabor Hill Road > Lincoln, MA 01773 > cell: 781-258-1175 > [email protected] > > > > -- > 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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