Hello LincolnTalkers,
With apologies for expressing yet again my strongly held opinion as an
architect concerned with what we build in Lincoln, I want to remind everyone
why I and many others believe we should not build a community center on the
school campus. I still believe it should be located in Lincoln Station,
particularly now that our small commercial area is in play because of the
Housing Choice Act.
As I wrote last year, "I fully support building a new facility, but it has long
been my opinion that such a major investment by the town should be deployed
where it is most needed - namely in the Lincoln Station area. For more than
ten years since Town Meeting approved the Comprehensive Long Range Plan, in
which the revitalization of Lincoln Station was overwhelmingly one of the
highest priorities, the area has lain dormant and in serious need of a catalyst
to jumpstart its transformation into the compact, vital, walkable village
center that was a stated goal at the time. A community center in such a
location would be the equivalent of an anchor store in a retail setting, and by
virtue of attracting more people on a regular basis, it would create more
opportunities for a clustered cross-current of activities spawning greater
social interaction."
As many will recall at last year’s Town Meeting, there was serious concern
about the cost to build it, and I am of the opinion that there are better ways
to accomplish this than spending anywhere from $18 to $24 million of taxpayer
money to do so. As was recently suggested to me by an experienced urban
planner, why not include the Community Center as a required accessory use in
the development of a future residential project at Lincoln Station?
As he said, “With clear program requirements and project parameters to guide
the design of a new project, developers can be very efficient in realizing a
good project on time and within budget.” Moreover, “It would be a plus to any
potential developer's proforma to have a confirmed tenant (assuming COA
long-term lease) for … an active community use in purposely designed ground
level space. This strategy would minimize the cost to Lincoln upfront financing
for design and construction, replace public project inefficiencies with
professional development expertise, and as such the new Community Center
facility may be more affordable to the town's stressed taxpayers."
As I also wrote last year, I believe it would constitute the classic suburban
planning error to create a new facility that stands alone at the school and,
like the suburban mall, accessible only by car. In addition, because of school
protocols, there would be very limited inter-generational co-mingling until
after school hours, if at all. And, even if there weren’t a greater awareness
about the effects of climate change, wouldn’t it make far more sense to locate
a community center where there are already other crucial services such as the
post office, grocery store, cleaners, a cafe and restaurant, not to mention the
potential for more housing?
Earlier this week I wrote the Selects about including an option to vote for
“None of the Above” at tomorrow’s Town Meeting. Absent any response, I plan to
vote for Option 3 ($12.5 million project cost) that has already been
characterized as not sufficient to provide services comparable to what we
already have at Bemis.
Please join me in rejecting the more expensive options 1 and 2 in order to
redirect our efforts to take advantage of this moment in time to be far more
creative, innovative and holistic in how we design and fund a Community Center
that can also help transform Lincoln Station to its full potential as a truly
vital, walkable village center. Remember,
we humans shape our environments at a moment in time,
and then they shape us for decades to come.
Respectfully,
Ken Hurd
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