The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

community center*

Board hears updates on roadways, energy program, more

With the water main project nearing completion in the coming months, the town discussed several other current and upcoming projects at its Sept. 10 meeting.

Roadways

Lincoln’s engineering consultant is working on a Ballfield Road plan that he expects to present to the Transportation Coalition later in September, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. Once that group and the School Committee approves of the concept, they’ll present cost estimates to the Select Board. If that board gives the green light, the final plan and funding proposal will be submitted to the Capital Planning Committee and then to an Annual Town Meeting vote in March 2027.

Ballfield Road is in need of repaving and other work, partly because heavy vehicles have degraded it during the school and community center construction projects. The improvements will also include new sidewalks, crosswalks, improved signage, and a redesigned campus entrance, including removal of the eastern “slip lane” entrance from Lincoln Road, Higgins said.

Officials have also gotten data from the townwide roadway study and are preparing cost estimates and priorities for road repair. “We’re probably not going to be able to afford having secondary roads [repaired to] the same standard as primary roads,” Select Board member Jim Hutchinson cautioned.

Lincoln Green Energy Choice

Since its inception in 2021, the Lincoln Green Energy Choice electricity aggregation program has supported regional renewable energy development by purchasing Class I Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) beyond what is required by state law. Now, because of changes in federal and state policy, purchasing additional RECs may no longer be as effective in driving new renewable-energy development, Green Energy Committee Chair Paul Shorb told the Select Board.

As a result, the committee proposes to redirect some or all of the premiums now used to purchase additional RECs into a town-controlled fund that would support local projects intended to mitigate climate change and/or promote climate resiliency. This will require a Town Meeting vote to create the fund and define what sort of projects it could be used for.

The committee will seek public input and make recommendations to the Select Board by early 2027, said Shorb, who explained program developments in more detail in an Aug. 30 piece in the Lincoln Squirrel and also posted to LincolnTalk.

Landfill solar project

The end of September is the latest estimate for bringing the landfill solar array on line, a year after construction began, Higgins told the board. The solar developer has completed steps including securing Eversource’s permission to operate the system, project commissioning, public safety training, and securing a net metering allocation for the financial credits the town will receive from the generation supplied to Eversource, he said.

Higgins and consultant Beth Greenblatt are also discussing options for an educational component or dashboard, such as a website or on-site kiosk that would offer data on the array’s operation once it’s up and running.

Community center

The board also began discussing a building use policy for the community center, which officially broke ground in October 2025 and was originally scheduled for completion later this fall. “The general contractor had challenging weather, and is behind schedule,” said Community Center Building Committee member Alison Taunton-Rigby. The committee will get an update at its next meeting on Sept. 23.

Winter Street in Waltham

A map of southeast Lincoln showing the Waltham parcels that were recently rezoned in dark gray. (Click image t enlarge)

The city of Waltham has approved rezoning the underused Bay Colony office park on Winter Street on the Lincoln town line to allow construction of 1,200 units of housing. Higgins is drafting a letter for the Select Board to send to Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy and the City Council expressing Lincoln’s concerns.

Lincoln plans to hire an independent traffic engineering firm to review the developer’s initial traffic study, which predicted 4,500 additional trips per day compared to the present conditions, Higgins wrote in his draft, which has yet to be edited and approved by the board.

“We are concerned that a meaningful share of this new traffic, together with traffic seeking to avoid Winter Street and Route 128 congestion, will be diverted onto roadways that serve as through-connections toward Lincoln” including Old County Road and Trapelo Road as well as Winter Street,” he wrote. Winter Street is closed to eastbound traffic after the intersection with Old County Road, whose southernmost section dead-ends in Waltham.

Board accepts $1.35 million in donations for community center

At the meeting at which the Select Board accepted to community center donations were (left to right) Town Administrator Tim Higgins, Select Board member Kim Bodnar, Community Center Building Committee co-chair Sarah Chester, Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging chair Rhonda Swain, Patrick Lawler of the FLCOA, Select Board member Jim Hutchinson, Peter von Mertens, donors Faye and Peter Speert of the FLCOA, Select Board member Jennifer Glass, and CCBC co-chair Jonathan Dwyer.

The Select Board on May 11 formally accepted donations totaling $1.345 million in donations to defray the cost of the community center now under construction.

It was the culmination of the previously announced donations of $1 million from the Friends of the Council on Aging and the Odgen Codman Trust ($500,000). The FLCOA donation was jump-started by bequests many years ago from the Pascoe and Hurff families.

The FLCOA also contributed another $345,000 it raised from about 100 private donors, with significant sums from the Desai family and Dilla Tingley and her late husband Fred, as well as the Hammett Ory family and Faye and Peter Speert.

The $1.345 million total was supplemented earlier this month by a donation of $40,000 from Peter von Mertens for a rain garden that had been cut earlier from the project due to cost. 

“This is just the best news I’ve had in a long time, and your generosity is amazing and so welcomed by the town,” Select Board member told the donors at the meeting.

Community Center to have a rain garden

An architect’s rendition of the Community Center rain garden (top) and where it will be located with respect to the building (click image to enlarge).

A rain garden, once a part of the plan for the Community Center but shelved due to cost, is back on track.

A rain garden is an environmentally natural way to deal with the runoff from roofs, walkways, and other hard surfaces. The Community Center Rain Garden will be located close to the main entry door and will fill with a few inches of water after rain and then filter the water into the surrounding soil, reducing runoff and recharging the ground water, reducing the need for irrigation and conserving water. It will include a variety of colorful and deep-rooted native seasonal plantings such as iris, lobelia, bee balm, black-eyed Susan and asters, as well as flowering shrubs such as winterberry and holly.

“We express deep thanks to the von Mertens family, who have donated funds to the town to support this valuable resource for the Community Center,” the Community Center Building Committee said in a statement.

The $26.35 million facility broke ground in October 2025 after the Hartwell pods were demolished over the summer and is slated for completion in late fall 2026. It’s being paid for by a combination of bonding, money from the town’s free cash and stabilization fund, and donations, including $1 million from the Friends of the Council on Aging, $500,000 from the Ogden Codman Trust, and (as of March 2024) $340,000 in individual donations. A $24 million bond sale in December funneled $15 million to the Community Center while also funding the $8.47 million Lincoln Road water main project and other Water Department items.

See the CCBC website for construction updates as well as the building’s site plan and floor plan.

Bond is sold at 3.844%; taxes to rise $459 a year

Items to be paid for with the latest bond issue (click to enlarge).

(Editor’s note: this article was corrected on Dec. 17, 2025.)

Now that the bond has been sold and repayment costs are known, the community center will add about $460 a year to homeowners’ tax bills over the next 30 years.

The $24.07 million bond will help pay other expenses as well: the community center ($15.77 million of the $26.35 million construction cost) as well as design and construction on both phases of the Lincoln Road water main project ($8.47 million) and various other Water Department items totaling $741,234.

The low bid on the $24.07 million bond came in at an interest rate of 3.844%, significantly lower than the 4.25% that the town used in forecasting expenses.

Those on town water will also be paying higher water bills, since the Water Department items will be repaid through water fees rather than property taxes, as with the community center.

Lincoln’s outstanding debt principal (click to enlarge). The bond for the Town Hall renovation was originally issued in 2011 and refinanced in 2021. The original bond amount was $5.8 million at an interest rate of 3.84%. 

While the community center borrowing will add approximately $459 a year to the median property tax bill, “we accounted for a portion of that to pay for the first interest payment in spring 2026, so the net impact for the median tax bill in the fall of 2026 is approximately $289,” said Finance Director Colleen Wilkins.

The town currently has $116 million in outstanding bond debt principal (see table) plus interest. The town pays debt service each year and a portion of that pays down principal. Outstanding debt, including this most recent bond issue, is roughly $104 million, Wilkins said.

Community center gets going from the ground up

The driver and washed stone are in place for creating the rammed aggregate piers.

During the last few weeks, general contractor Hutter Construction has made significant progress on the beginnings of Lincoln’s community center. Demolition is complete and Hutter is moving forward with site work and ground improvements using rammed aggregate piers.

In thus technique, a driver pounds washed stone down 6–12 feet and then compacts it into a pier. There will be 279 of these piers along the outline of the building and under the interior about every 8–10 feet.  This will create a stiffened mass of soil and a solid foundation for the building.

The subcontractor has begun compaction testing and mobilization to identify the rammed aggregate pier sites. As piers are installed, the contractor will begin preparing for footings in sequence. Excavation will continue into the week of November 17, with footing installation beginning shortly thereafter, marking the beginning of foundation work for the new community center. By late November, the foundation work will progress as footings are set, and the first walls begin to rise. Moving into early December, crews will continue building out the foundation with additional footings and walls, further shaping the structure.

Installation of the rammed aggregate piers will generate vibrations and noise on the project site, so these operations only occur during the times allowed by the Town of Lincoln and the Building Department.

The next Community Center Building Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19 in the Donaldson Roon and on Zoom. See the CCBC website for more information and images.

Happy faces and shiny shovels at community center ground-breaking

One of several groups of Lincoln residents, officials, designers and builders who wielded shovels at the community center ground-breaking in the Hartwell lot. Among them were Dilla Tingley (third from left), who has served on all six community center committees, and leaders of the organizations that will occupy the new building: Jessica Downing of Parks and Rec (fourth from left), Abigail Butt of the COA&HC (center), and Katie Hawkins of LEAP (far right). Click image for larger view.

The community center construction officially broke ground on October 8 with shiny shovels and dozens of happy town officials and volunteers thanking residents and each other for years of work to make the day happen.

Many members of the past and present groups involved were in attendance. Among the six committees that served over the years were the Community Center Feasibility Study Committee, which issued its report in 2012; the Community Center Planning & Preliminary Design Committee, and the current Community Center Building Committee (CCBC).

“We couldn’t be more pleased and grateful that the project is moving forward here, for nothing else we were running out of acronyms,” joked Town Administrator Tim Higgins.

“I’m especially pleased for our seniors, who agreed to set their needs aside so that the school project could move forward first and continue to make do at Bemis Hall,” Higgins continued. “You won’t need to make do much longer… we expect to be back here in 12 months to cut the ribbon on the new building.”

Though most have agreed for years that the Council on Aging & Human Services needed a new home, planning for the community center (which will also house the Parks and Recreation Department and the Lincoln Extended-day After-school Program) was delayed until the $93 million school project was complete. The CCBC started work in June 2022; voters approved most of the funding for the project in March 2024, and heavy machinery finally arrived this summer to demolish the three Hartwell pods.

A construction banner hung on construction fencing at the ceremony.

 

The end of the Hartwell pods

Demolition of the Hartwell pods began on August 14 starting with Pod C, which housed LEAP until June 2025. They’re being cleared to make way for the new community center, which is slated for completion in late fall 2026. It will house the Council on Aging and Human Services and the Parks and Recreation Department as well as LEAP.

The pods were designed by famed Modernist architect Henry Hoover (who also designed the Brooks School complex across the ballfield) and built between 1959 and 1964 to accommodate the growing number of schoolchildren in town — including the Lincoln Squirrel’s Alice Waugh, who attended kindergarten in the Pod C classroom closest to the main Hartwell building. 

“It’s a bittersweet, generational moment. We’re excited to see the first big milestone for construction of the community center, but we’re also sad to see the demolition of a building where so many memories were made,” said Community Center Building Committee Chair Sarah Chester.

See the Lincoln Squirrel’s short video of the Pod C demolition, as well as more photos and information in the Owners’ Project Manager’s monthly report to the CCBC on August 13, 2025.

PodC-opm
podc
podC-mg

Community center work starts this week

Aerial renderings of the community center. See a slide show of interior images here.

After years of studying, planning, discussion, and Town Meeting votes, the community center project expects to break ground on Friday, July 18.

The final hurdle for getting the project underway was when voters in June approved using $2.33 million from the town’s stabilization fund to cover a budget shortfall that became apparent when all the construction bids were over budget. Voters OK’d a $24.02 million budget for the project at the March 2024 Annual Town Meeting (see all Lincoln Squirrel community center stories here.)

According to statement released on July 17 by Community Center Building Committee (CCBC), the first phase of construction will last through the summer and will include installation of erosion controls and fencing to ensure environmental protection and site safety, and abatement and demolition of the existing Hartwell pods.
 
All asbestos abatement work is being performed by a licensed asbestos contractor in full accordance with EPA Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, MassDEP, and Department of Labor Standards asbestos regulations, the CCBC said. A detailed letter from the contractor outlines their specific procedures and safety protocols. The town is also developing a construction mitigation plan with our contractor that includes dust control protocols throughout the entire project.

Vehicular traffic patterns on campus will remain largely unchanged throughout this phase, with the exception of a modification to the entrance and exit of the Hartwell parking lot. These maps show vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle access to the area:

  • Ballfield Road access map — provides a broad view of the entire campus and general access routes
  • Hartwell Building access map — offers specific information about access to the Hartwell main building, which houses:
    • Lincoln Public Schools administrative offices
    • Magic Garden Preschool
    • Parks and Recreation Offices
    • LEAP administrative offices (program spaces are housed in the Lincoln School for the coming school year.)

The CCBC will share regular updates on construction progress, upcoming milestones, and any changes that may affect community access or activities. Join their email list and learn more at lincolncommunitycenter.com. Anyone with questions or concerns about the project, is encouraged to reach out to the committee at CCBCCommunicationsCommittee@gmail.com.

My Turn: Vote “no” on community center funding measure

Lincoln is by far one of the most beautiful communities in New England. I have lived in the town long enough to appreciate the natural beauty, the open spaces, and our people. The Community Center Building Committee has worked diligently over many years to plan a community center that benefits our town. So why a “no” vote?

We all need to consider our taxes and the tax impact on our people. A “no” vote would significantly reduce the annual tax burden per household. There is a need for a community center, but not at the current price tag. The scope of the project has become just too big and too costly. This is not a criticism against town leadership or the CCBC. In many ways, this has become a public sector case study, highlighting how a town planning process that has gone on for so long now lacks a fiscally responsive approach.

I believe the planning process may have lost site of the Town’s constituents, our tax payers. We must vote “no” to move forward and create a better plan supporting our seniors and our community representing all residents. Please join me and vote “no” on the community center, supporting Lincoln.

Sincerely,

Jon Mello (179 Sandy Pond Rd.)

“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.

My Turn: Friends of COA urge support for community center

At the 2024 Town Meeting, as the culmination of decades of discussion and planning, the citizens of Lincoln resoundingly approved a project to build a new community center designed specifically to meet the needs of the Council on Aging & Human Services (COA&HS), Lincoln Extended-day Activities Program (LEAP), and the Parks and Recreation Department.

Since then, architects, site planners, designers, along with the Community Center Building Committee (CCBC), the Conservation Commission, and other town boards and committees have worked diligently to turn the vision of a community center into reality. Throughout the process, they made a number of cuts to the original design to reduce costs. Even so, when bids for construction came in, the lowest bid exceeded the original budget by $2.3 million due to tariffs, supply chain issues, and overall economic conditions.

The CCBC has requested the additional $2.3 million from the town in order to proceed with the construction of the community center on the current schedule.

The Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging has been a strong proponent of the community center project from the beginning. We contributed $1 million to the community center project in order to reduce the amount the town needed to borrow to fund it. In addition, we helped raise $345,000 through private contributions to reduce the cost of the project to the taxpayers.

We strongly support the CCBC’s request that the town contribute $2.3 million from the stabilization fund to the community venter project. The town has managed its affairs prudently so that the requested funds are available without requiring additional borrowing. This project, at this time, still represents a generationally unique opportunity for the residents of Lincoln to build an asset that will continue to serve the town’s residents, of all ages, for years to come.

Please join us at the Special Town Meeting on June 25 at 6:30pm. We hope you’ll vote in favor of Article 1 to provide the community center project with the funding it needs.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Swain (143 South Great Rd.)
President, Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging

“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.