To the editor:
I believe most people, who have issues with the design proposed by the First Parish Building Committee for an addition to the White Church, are not “opposing the proposed new Stearns Room” project. There are legitimate concerns about specifics of the design that for the most part, have not been addressed in the many meetings with the town boards over the last 18 months. The white church in the historic district at our town’s center is classic New England. Any addition to that structure needs to be sensitive to the beauty of this special building.
I have attended most of those meetings and have not heard one comment voiced against the need for handicapped accessibility. The need for handicap accessibility is not at issue. There are however, several design issues that trouble me deeply. Last Sunday evening I stood on the library lawn watching the re-enactment of the April 18th mustering of the Minutemen. I could see over the roof of the Stearns Room, through the trees to the fading, evening light. The height of the proposed roof will be over 5 feet higher than the existing Stearns Room roof. Lowering the roof somewhat would not impact the prominence of the handicapped-accessible entrance planned for that façade. There are other design features such as the tin roof and the amount of glass that could be modified in a way to better protect the sanctuary without affecting the goals of handicapped accessibility and function.
In 2000, my brother Warren and I met with a representative of the First Parish Church to discuss a purchase of land by the First Parish sufficient to support an addition to the Stearns Room built in 1960. That original Stearns Room was designed with a philosophy of modest design and scale to protect the original 1842 building. It was our clear understanding that the addition would be designed with the same considerations in mind. Warren marked a parcel sufficient to support the project as described and the family decided to make a gift of this land. The plan that appears to be in the final stages of approval is not consistent with the understanding that the Flints had with the church at the time of the gift. I have been attending the meetings between the church building committee and the town boards and have tried to articulate the issues with the design that I believe will have a negative impact on the old sanctuary in historic center, the conservation field behind the church and the neighborhood. With one exception, a slight lifting of the window sills, there have been no compromises.
I feel that the trust between the First Parish Church and the Flint family has been lost, but far more importantly, I feel that the “Lincoln way” of decision-making—one characterized by the inclusion of different ideas and compromise—has been abandoned in this process.
Sincerely,
Ephraim Flint (trustee, Flint Realty Trust)
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
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