By Lynne Smith
(Editor’s note: the Lincoln Squirrel was out of town on May 23 and unable to cover the forum.)
Before the May 23 Community Center Building Committee forum, I walked with several others around the campus to understand what the new site plans would mean for the existing property. It was a beautiful time of day with sunlight slanting through the gorgeous old trees that encircled the tiny old pods. Lush grass and kids’ trails through the woods from Lincoln Road made me yearn to be a child in Lincoln.
Proposed parking spaces, wetland conservation restrictions, and limited buildable land are squeezing the site plans for a community center building on the Hartwell campus. The large parking areas proposed for each of the five alternatives presented dwarf the renovated and new buildings in the schemes shown by Ned Collier of ICON Architecture, who described the five site plans that are posted on the CCBC website.
Collier described in detail the need for setbacks from the underground river that must be crossed to enter the campus. Conservation restrictions would require tearing up the existing parking lot and adding a swale to protect the river. Parking spaces would then be farther from the main road with a two-way entry to the campus instead of the one-way entry and one-way exit, which are now in place.
Each of the five schemes includes a new two-story building replacing pod A and different levels of renovation for LEAP and the pod B buildings. The schemes also show the green space, needed as playgrounds and fields for children in the LEAP program. In all the plans, a new parking lot dominates and doubles the existing 50 spaces.
Consolidating two populations in one community center is driving the CCBC effort, overruling the expressed desire of the town to “supplement or not with existing available town spaces.” With the COA staff and many seniors coming and going, the already crowded Hartwell campus will become even busier. The need for holding many activities in other sites is clearer than ever.
I want to raise the issue of parking space to a high level of concern. We are now doing everything we can to reduce emissions in town. Replacing the old parking lot with new paving and adding up to 50 additional spaces for cars to accommodate seniors, who do not occupy the building all day, does not seem necessary. Activities are scheduled throughout the day so people come and go on staggered schedules. Moreover, holding COA activities at Bemis Hall, Pierce House, the school, and other town sites will minimize the need for parking at the Hartwell campus.
I urge everyone to get involved and take a close look at the CCBC website to understand the site plans, especially the substantial proposed increase of parking spaces. And, if you have nothing better to do, go take a walk in the late afternoon behind the pods to understand what will be lost and would need to change with each of the proposed plans. The next CCBC meeting is Wednesday, May 31 and will feature more detail on programming, especially attendance numbers, and the site plans.
“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.
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