By Lynne Smith
(Editor’s note: writer Lynne Smith indicates her personal opinions in italics.)
The March 22 evening meeting of the Community Center Building Committee was disappointing for public attendees, many of whom hoped to hear detail on programming needs, alternate spaces, and a process for soliciting community opinion. About 30 Lincoln residents attended the meeting virtually and in person and were paying close attention. Committee Chair Sarah Chester started the meeting at 7 p.m. and opened it for public comments around 8 p.m.
The topics covered include the following.
- Timeline — The committee intends to have ICON, the architectural firm, design several options by June, spend the summer refining costs, and then do further review and refinement prior to a vote for a preferred choice at a fall 2023 Special Town Meeting. Apparently, much work has been happening behind the scenes. Now that the public is engaged, the committee needs to issue updates at the beginning of each meeting. It is late March and the timing seems tight for bringing the town into the discussion.
- Community survey and forum — The committee has not prepared a survey but hopes to create, conduct, analyze, and get the results back in time for a community forum on April 25. As Alison Taunton-Rigby of the Communications Subcommittee pointed out, these steps take about one month. During the meeting, the committee brainstormed whom to survey and what sorts of things would be included: Lincoln values, programming wishes, open-ended comments, raw feelings.
The subcommittee agreed to draft the survey at a public meeting on Wednesday, March 29 and mentioned that several other surveys would be conducted this spring, although no specifics were pinned down. There was little discussion of what the community forum would include other than a report by ICON and the survey results. When the meeting opened up to the public, attendees requested that the survey and the forum be used to give the community an opportunity to comment. This suddenly seemed to remind the committee that residents had opinions that should be solicited, both in survey form and in public meetings. To be meaningful, a survey needs thoughtful content and a large sample and a forum needs to attract a large audience. Both take time.
- “Stakeholders” and “open mic” night — The CCBC frequently used the term “stakeholders,” meaning COA&HS, Parks and Recreation Department (PRD), the School Committee, and liaisons from the Historical and Conservation Commissions. During public discussion, a consensus was reached that town organizations — such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the Lincoln Family Association — and ordinary citizens are also stakeholders. Consequently, the committee decided to give representatives from 20-30 town organizations and members of the public the opportunity to speak for two minutes or submit a written brief at the CCBC’s April 4 meeting. Assistant Town Administrator Dan Pereira offered to invite these representatives and post the invitation for the public. It appears that the committee will begin soliciting public outreach in April — tight timing as it is already late March.
- Programming needs and alternate spaces — The committee presented no analysis of programming needs. At the prior meeting on March 8, [Select Board member] Jonathan Dwyer and [Town Administrator] Tim Higgins reassured some of us that the committee would explore “existing available spaces” for programs, and the committee agreed that an inventory of potential available spaces would aid the architect. At this meeting, however, no mention was made of this until the public discussion. ICON architect Ned Collier said that Chester graciously gave him a “driving tour” of the school and other buildings around town. That sounds insufficient to the expressed desire of many people in town to see a full evaluation of these spaces and how they might be used to flesh out the program needs. It is time for the committee to share a programing analysis with the town as well as with the architect.
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I believe a community center is more than a building — it is a coordinated set of activities and places for residents, both young and old. I want to see an analysis of programming needs and an inventory of available spaces that might serve those needs. I would vote for investment in a modest new building on the Hartwell site. I would also vote for an additional sum allocated to improvements/modifications to make existing spaces in Bemis Hall, Pierce House, and the Hartwell Pods more suitable for programs.
The CCBC and town staff may be hard at work on the community center, but this work needs to be more transparent to the town. Public meeting dates need to be announced broadly. I am on the CCBC mailing list but have yet to receive information about scheduled meetings. I urge residents to respond to the survey and attend the April 4 and April 25 meetings, when these opportunities are announced. I urge the committee to seek broad public input from the town prior to the vote next fall.
“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 lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. 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.
A few months ago I wrote an article for My Turn urging the CCBC to consider alternate locations. This was mentioned in the amended motion that passed shortly before midnight at the meeting on Nov. 30. It doesn’t appear that this alternative is being taken seriously. I am reprinting my article below, and hope that others will chime in if they agree with me, or even if they disagree.
My Turn: Moving forward with plans for a Community Center
By June Matthews
Things have been strangely quiet on the Community Center front – perhaps everyone is exhausted after the November 30 marathon town meeting and the preceding torrent of posts on Lincoln Talk. Now that the CCBC has the authority to spend $325,000 to study the previous two proposals for a gold-plated Community Center at Hartwell, along with a direction to explore lower-cost options, including placement of some services and facilities at other locations, I request that the Committee pay serious attention to the last point. It is clear that the after-school programs of the P&RD should most sensibly be located at the schools, as that’s where the kids are. But I assert that it makes little, if any, sense to locate the activities of the COA&HS there. There has been much discussion of the virtues of a multi-generational Community Center. But I have my doubts as to the extent that intergenerational mixing would occur at such a Center, given the present structure of the P&RD and COA&HS programs. As others have pointed out, there are already opportunities in Town for social contact among families and people of all ages — think First Day and Winter Carnival, for example, plus programs at our Library, and at Codman. I would like to request that the CCBC use some of their time and energy, and perhaps funds, to “think outside the box.” What do Lincoln seniors (I am one) really need, want, and value? My vision is of a Community Center conveniently located at Lincoln Station: walking distance from the Ryan Estate, as well as from other high-density residential areas which cater to mixed ages and mixed incomes: Lincoln Woods, the Ridge Court apartments, the Greenridge and Todd Pond condominiums. Not everyone will walk, of course, but those who are there with their cars will have convenient access to other essential services, e.g., Donelan’s and the post office. Plus two restaurants, two dry cleaning establishments, a bank, Something Special, etc. Not to mention the train station, for those wishing to venture farther afield. A new building on the site of the commuter lot has been proposed, as commuting has dwindled with many people still working remotely. One would have to ascertain whether adequate parking would remain. Others have proposed utilizing vacant space in existing buildings, on both sides of Lincoln Road. There has been much talk about “revitalizing” the town center, with zoning changes possibly attracting new businesses. Given the experience in other towns, this might or might not happen. Alternatively, I can envisage a Community Center as a magnet to draw more people to the true Center of our town. One objection has been as to whether this wouldn’t essentially be a Senior Center, rather than a true Community Center? I contend that it doesn’t have to be: P&RD activities which don’t involve the school’s athletic facilities could take place there. (And maybe a Senior Center is not such a bad idea after all?) It was pointed out last Wednesday that attendees at the previous meeting overwhelmingly voted with their “dots” for the Hartwell site. However, there have been many changes since then, in technology, the economy, work, shopping, socializing, and health. Let’s not bury our heads in the sands of the past.
June Matthews
35 Greenridge Lane
Thanks for this Lynne – plans for this significant project need to be carefully thought through with meaningful community input and discussion. I share the belief that there are alternative spaces in Lincoln that can accommodate some of the planned programming and could reduce project scope. Serious consideration of project scope seems essential in a current economic landscape that is changing and uncertain – note that the cost of capital has pretty much doubled in a very short period of time.
Lynne, thank you for taking the time and making the effort to inform the general public about the activities of the CCBC, as well as your thoughts about them and any proposal that may be generated. You echo my own concerns and questions, and I appreciate your being vocal about them. I, for one, will not look favorably on any proposal that has not taken into significant account the several very useful new public spaces at the new school – the Learning Commons, the Dining Commons, the new Library – that add to existing spaces already available in the Auditorium and both gyms.