Karla, These are all excellent points…
Even if we had the data on actual usage and attendance (we don’t) and even it somehow supported an argument for the construction of these large spaces (it doesn’t), we would then be forced to ask ourselves the logical next questions.
Should Lincoln be building more completely new spaces / square footage to host exercise classes at all? Is it reasonable or practical to expect a town of our size to have and maintain a dedicated facility for this? How many other spaces could be utilized (the school for example) or rented in or around our town that would solve this problem? How many neighboring town programs could we avail ourselves of with some sort of reciprocal arrangement? There are innumerable alternatives to solve all of the stated problems that don’t involve anywhere near this much new construction. We have simply not considered them in earnest, and we don’t intend to.
As I’ve stated in previous posts - the CCBC is a “community center BUILDING committee”. They are not conducting a needs analysis, as they believe that work is already done and the need for a large new building is justified. I think many people in town, myself included, disagree.
Seth Rosen Bedford Road
We can all agree that the seniors and the COA need support and we should come together to find solutions. What gives a lot of us pause is the current plan, which is focused on building a 16K-20K sq ft facility at a cost of $15M+ without understanding our true needs (neither current nor future) nor exploring supplementary options around town to help bring down the cost. Let's all remember that a building like this will come with its associated staffing, insurance and operating costs, and we will still need to invest in upkeep for Bemis/Pierce.
- The concern is not about the numbers fluctuating wildly, because we haven't even been provided the data to make that assertion. The grave concern lies on the fact that COA hasn't provided median/average/actual attendance, despite repeated requests from many of our neighbors and even CCBC members.
- How can we plan for future growth if we don't know what the current state is? What do we apply a growth factor to?
- If you look at the little attendance data that is available, quite a few of the classes are attended by 2-5 people. Yet the current community center schemes plan for fitness/activity rooms ranging in size from ~1,000 to over 2,500 sq ft. How much would attendance have to grow to make use of all that space?
- Wayland is building a COA/CC that has less square footage than even the cheapest of our options, even though they have double the number of people and of seniors. Do we think that our senior population is going to grow to more than double, and more than Wayland’s?
- This project will (without doubt) impact our property tax bills, which are currently higher than Lexington, Concord, Carlisle, Wayland, Sudbury and Bedford.
- If we continue on this path, we will be making the town even more expensive for those retiring and on fixed income, effectively driving away those that we are building for
- This type of thinking of "building for the future" without any data to support it is what drove us to overbuild the school. Based upon Mass State Building Standards, the school’s 165K square feet should be able to host 1,000 students. The architects designed the school for 650+ students but our enrollment is currently only 550 (PK-8)
A lot of people have expressed concern that the attendance figures at the COA vary wildly from day today and from month to month and nobody really seems to understand what volume of people we should plan for. Let me remind people that the baby boom cohort just turning 70. Speaking as a person who is about to turn 80, it is often hard to visualize what’s going to happen to you over the next 10 years. For example, it is hard to believe that you will ever find a time that you cannot reach your toenails. Yet that happens! One can spend $60 to go to a podiatrist or $10 to go to the podiatrist at COAHS. If one member of a long relationship has died, the remaining member often finds that the help offered with taxes or with choosing between health plans is vital. I myself have just started to take advantage of their exercise programs. The number of people looking for these services is about to expand rapidly as the baby boomers age. Let’s build for the future, not the past.Ruth Ann(She, her, hers)-- 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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