Ogden Codman Trust pledges $500K for community center

The Ogden Codman Trust has pledged $500,000 to help defray the cost of the community center, which is estimated at $24 million.

The trust, which began making grants for Lincoln facilities and projects in 1972, helped pay for the town pool years ago. It has distributed an average of about $200,000 in grants and loans annually in recent years. The largest single grant in the past three years was $95,000 to historic New England for repairs at the Codman Estate in 2021, and most grants are in the range of $10,000 to $25,000, so this is by far the largest grant that the trust has made in some time.

“We are deeply appreciative of your generosity, and the timing of your gift couldn’t be better,” said Community Center Building Committee Chair Sarah Chester said at the February 5 Select Board meeting when the gift was announced.

The grant will be paid in five installments starting with $350,000 in the first year and the subsequent installments over the following three-year period, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. “Hopefully this will help power the fundraising effort that’s going on and leverage some additional generosity,” he said.

“We’re grateful to have the opportunity to participate in this really exciting project,” Ogden Codman trustee Susan Monahan said. She praised “the work that’s gone into documenting and making the [planning] accessible and transparent… we wish you the best in pulling in some additional funds in support of that.”

A group of residents has launched a fundraising effort targeting individuals, corporations and other organizations. Together with funds from the Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging (FLCOA), which has promised to match every donation dollar for dollar up to $1 million, the group hopes to raise several million dollars. 

Most of the project will be paid for through bonding, but the segment of the building for LEAP (a private entity) can’t be paid for through tax-advantaged municipal bonds, so other sources of funding will be needed. Residents will vote on a bonding amount at Town Meeting next month.

“We hope the March votes goes the right way, though you’ve given us every reason to be optimistic,” Monahan said.