community center*

Campus master plan design consultant approved

August 2, 2015

The Community Center Study Committee's "preferred option." Click on the image for more options and interior design ideas.

The Community Center Study Committee’s “preferred option” for the site of a new community center on the east side of the Lincoln School campus (see the Lincoln Squirrel, March 26, 2015).

The Campus Master Planning Committee (CMPC) has selected LLB Architects of Pawtucket, R.I. as the design consultant for the Ballfield Road campus, where the town hopes to build a new community center and renovate the Lincoln School.

The School Committee and the Board of Selectmen, which jointly appointed the CMPC, approved the hiring in mid-July.

“LLB brings a wealth of experience and a talented team of experts to the campus master planning project,” said Town Administrator Tim Higgins. “This is one of the most important projects facing Lincoln right now. We recognize that the plan will need to accommodate both the current and future education and recreational needs of our town’s resident population. I’m confident that LLB will be able to successfully assist the Campus Master Planning Committee in their charge to study the basic infrastructure and physical layout of the Ballfield Road campus and inform the planning for the contemplated school building and community center projects.”

“LLB’s technical experience, team-based approach, community focus and ability to see the ‘big picture’ make them a solid choice,” said School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass. “The project team, led by Project Executive Greg Smolley, has completed more than three dozen publicly bid projects in the Commonwealth in the last five years.”

LLB Architects, formerly Lerner Ladds Bartels, was founded in 1936. Their portfolio features design work on the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles and several projects at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, the firm has done design work on public libraries in Bolton, Maynard, Scituate, Walpole and Watertown as well as the town halls in Acton and Harvard.

A report by Abacus Architects and Planners last March estimated that a community center just east of the Parks and Recreation pod on the Hartwell side of the campus would cost about $13 million, including a new access road, parking lot and repairs to the pods. The new building would be home to the Parks and Rec and the Council on Aging as well as various community groups.

For the rest of the summer, the consultants will review data on the campus’s physical and geographical conditions (roads and parking, wetlands, septic systems, major trees, etc.) and establish the short and long-term programmatic needs of all potential stakeholder groups. They will present their initial findings at a public workshop in October, where they will also gather public input and “identify conceptual options and present positive and negative aspects of each,” according to the firm’s preliminary project approach and timeline.

LLB will also make a presentation and gather input at the State of the Town Meeting on November 14 and at another public workshop in December before submitting their final report before the end of the calendar year.

“Lincoln is a community that values its historical buildings and spaces and engaging the public in setting direction for the future,” said LLB Project Executive Greg Smolley. “All of us at LLB Architects treasure the history of New England and have built the firm on a wide range of civic and public projects. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with everyone in Lincoln and are looking forward to getting started.”

For more information, residents are encouraged to attend any of the committee meetings, which are posted on the CMPC web page.

Campus Master Plan Committee is up and running

June 17, 2015

The Community Center Study Committee’s “preferred option” for the location of the facility on the Hartwell campus.

The Campus Master Plan Committee (CMPC) has begun meeting and is moving quickly, with plans to interview consultant finalists on July 16.

The committee is charged with examining the implications of a Hartwell campus community center on Ballfield Road campus roadways, traffic, parking, public safety and accessibility, and recreational facilities, and to understand site issues such as wetlands, conservation land, septic fields and geotechnical conditions. One of the CMPC’s first tasks is hiring a firm with the skills needed to do this work. Residents authorized $75,000 for this purpose at Town Meeting in March.

Members of the committee are Renel Fredriksen from the Board of Selectmen, Jennifer Glass and Tim Christenfeld from the School Committee; Bryce Wolf from the Planning Board; Ken Bassett from the Roadway & Traffic Committee; Dilla Tingley from the Council on Aging board; Patricia Donahue from the Parks and Recreation Committee; either Peter von Mertens or Jim Meadors from the Conservation Commission; and at-large members Carole Kasper, Vin Cannistraro and Paula Cobb. There are four nonvoting members as well: Town Administrator Tim Higgins, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall, Council on Aging Director Carolyn Bottum, and Parks & Recreation Director Dan Pereira.

Candidates sought for Campus Master Plan Committee

May 4, 2015

The Lincoln School campus.

In response to community interest in locating a community center on the Lincoln School’s Ballfield Road campus, the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee are jointly creating the Campus Master Plan Committee (CMPC). The purpose of the CMPC will be to consider infrastructure and safety issues related to the possible co-location of Council on Aging, the Parks and Recreation Department, and school functions on Ballfield Road. The CMPC’s charge will be to examine the implications on roadways, traffic, parking, public safety and accessibility, and recreational facilities, and to understand site issues such as wetlands, conservation land, septic fields and geotechnical conditions.

The CMPC will be responsible for hiring, subject to approval by the Selectmen and the School Committee, a firm with the skills needed to do the work. At the 2015 Town Meeting, Article 33 authorized $75,000 for this purpose. The CMPC will determine its own meeting schedule, but it is expected that it will meet frequently between June and December, with the delivery of a final report by the end of the calendar year. The committee will gather input from the public and relevant boards, and an interim report and public feedback will be one of the items for discussion at the fall State of the Town meeting.

Interested candidates should have experience and skills that will further the work of the committee. The at-large members will join representatives from relevant town boards. Letters of interest should be submitted to both the Board of Selectmen at selectmen@lincolntown.org and the School Committee at schoolcomm@lincnet.org by Friday, May 15. The Selectmen and School Committee will hold a joint meeting to finalize the CMPC’s charge and to appoint the at-large members on Monday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m in the Donaldson Room in the Town Office Building.

Community center on Hartwell campus would cost $13 million, panel says

March 26, 2015

The Community Center Study Committee’s “preferred option.” Click on the image for more exterior and interior design ideas.

By Alice Waugh

Residents on Saturday will have the chance to hear the final report of the Community Center Study Committee (CCSC), which proposes a community center to be built on the Hartwell campus at a total cost of about $13 million, including roads and other site work.

Residents delve into community center, school project at State of the Town

November 17, 2014

(Editor’s note: this article was updated on November 18 to include clarifications and additional document links.)

By Alice Waugh

At the State of the Town meeting on November 15, hundreds of Lincoln residents asked questions and heard cost estimates for two projects that are on parallel discussion tracks heading for Town Meeting in the spring: a school building project and a community center.

The Lincoln School needs millions of dollars in basic repairs as well as improvements such as cafeterias and other upgrades to improve education, while the Council Aging, now in cramped quarters in Bemis Hall, also urgently needs better space, town officials said.

“In both cases, doing nothing is not an option,” Selectman Renel Fredriksen said at the start of the meeting.
[Read more…] about Residents delve into community center, school project at State of the Town

Letter to the editor: get involved in community center discussion

November 4, 2014

To the editor:

Join the community center conversation! The town is evaluating options to address the facility needs of the Council on Aging, the Parks and Recreation Department and various community organizations that use town space. A variety of solutions are being considered—from adapting existing buildings to new construction and from multiple, discrete projects to one large multifaceted solution—and we’re interested in your opinion. There are a number of ways to get involved:

Visit the Community Center Study Committee website at https://lincolntown.org/index.aspx?nid=569 and take some time to learn about the issues being considered. Our webpage has everything you need to know, including a summary of the topic, a timeline of the public process up to this point, links to town reports and video presentations of our public meetings. It’s an easy way to catch up on the conversation.
Complete our survey! After you’ve caught up, provide some feedback in this brief three-question survey, which closes on Sunday, Nov. 9.
Attend our upcoming public meetings:

Friday, Nov. 7 at 8:15 a.m. during the Lincoln PTO meeting
Saturday, Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. at the State of the Town meeting

Both meetings will be held in the Brooks School auditorium in conjunction with the School Building Advisory Committee. We will both be providing an update of our work and soliciting feedback. (Babysitting is available for State of the Town meeting; contact Linda Hammet-Ory at lhamme@aol.com.)

We hope you’ll take the time to participate in our process. Your input is critical to our work!

Sincerely,

Dan Pereira
Community Center Study Committee
Director, Parks and Recreation Department

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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.

Letter to the editor: support a multigenerational community center

October 17, 2014

To the editor:

My parents moved their young family to Lincoln in 1948. Growing up, I was always impressed by how much my parents gave back to the community, and how much the Lincoln community gave to our family. I remember my Dad very clearly saying how important it is to pay it both forward and backwards. Even in late middle age, after their kids had long flown the nest, he and my mother were generous supporters of the schools, the library and other important town initiatives.

As our town looks forward to making funding decisions, I am concerned that some folk are becoming polarized. Young parents perhaps think there is little need for a community center, while some seniors are less interested in funding the schools and young kids. I think it is a mistake to divide ourselves like this. In order to be a thriving robust community, we need to look after all the various members of our town.

At a recent community center meeting, several people stated that we really don’t need a community center, since we already have a great community. While I agree that we have a wonderful town, I strongly feel we need a community center that embraces both the Council on Aging and Parks and Recreation. I am concerned that if we create a separate COA, we will in fact isolate the older folk in town.

Some folks are concerned that children might run over frail seniors, but if children are adequately monitored that would not be a problem. Children and seniors coexist well at Donelan’s, the library and church settings. By thinking creatively, we can meet the needs of all. Why not build a building with separate entrances for young and old, and at the same time have mixed/joint spaces? By sharing space, we can build connections between young and old. In this modern age, so many kids and grandparents are separated by great distances. Many little kids never see grownups older than their parents. There are so many opportunities for multigenerational activities — including some of the opportunities listed below…

Computer classes
Cooking
Dressmaking
Conversational language classes
Woodwork – toys and furniture
Music
Tutoring/ literacy opportunities
Drama, plays and improv classes
Dancing
Arts and crafts
Leatherwork and pottery
Gardening
Creative writing and poetry classes
And much more

These joint activities would allow for teaching opportunities for both students and seniors. Are there any seniors out there ready for a hip-hop class?

In conclusion, I encourage everyone to attend the State of the Town Meeting on Saturday, Nov. 15 starting at 9:30 in the Brooks School Auditorium to learn more.

Sincerely,

Sally Kindleberger
14 North Commons

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.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.

Residents brainstorm options for a community center

October 14, 2014

Residents including Selectman Renel Fredriksen (center) discussed options for the Hartwell property.

By Alice Waugh

More than 100 residents packed into Hartwell Pod C for an October 8 charrette to share ideas for a community center in Lincoln and discuss where it might be located.

The evening included lively discussion over pizza as attendees clustered around maps and models of five sites identified in a 2012 report by the Community Center Feasibility Study Committee: Bemis Hall, the Hartwell pod area, the current Department of Public Works site on Lewis Street, the commuter parking lot behind Donelan’s, and Pierce House.

The Community Center Study Committee (CCSC) formed in June and hired Abacus Architects and Planners to gather community input and produce an analysis of possible sites for a facility that would be home to the Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) and the Council on Aging (COA) as well as a central meeting place for residents. While the PRD is content with its current location in Hartwell Pod C, the COA has outgrown Bemis Hall, which has numerous issues including insufficient parking, activity space and handicapped access as well as lack of privacy for counseling. All of the Hartwell pods need upgrades as well.

Abacus began its work knowing that the PRD did not want to relocate. “Moving the programs away from the children makes no sense,” said Abacus architect David Pollak. That said, there are other questions such as whether the COA should share renovated or newly built space with the PRD, stay in a renovated Bemis Hall, or move to another site in town. He noted that less total space—about 20,000 square feet—would be required for a shared facility, vs. 10,000 square feet for a separate COA and 15,000 square feet for the PRD.

After Pollak outlined the pros and cons of each of the five possible sites for a community center, residents split up into smaller groups around maps of each site, talking and manipulating little foam blocks that represented segments of buildings and seeing how things might fit within property lines, wetlands and other features. The groups then shared their brainstorming ideas about each site with the entire gathering.

Pierce House — Possibilities include construction on the southeast corner of the property, underground beneath the parking lot, or even in Pierce Park, a notion that drew good-natured boos from some in the crowd.

Hartwell — This site resulted in the greatest number of feasible ideas. The parking and traffic pattern could be reconfigured and one or more two-story structures could fit on the site, perhaps with space in the middle to be shared by the PRD and the COA, residents said. The structures could also be used as swing space for a school building project. The primary concerns were keeping both age groups safe and protecting the stream that runs between Ballfield Road and the parking lot. Some even suggested putting a second entrance to the site on the east side.

Bemis Hall — Residents in this group saw the close proximity of the historic cemetery and Bedford Road as significant obstacles. However, Pollak noted that other towns have solved similar problems by expanding into an adjacent hillside via underground space with an atrium to let in natural light. “From an architectural standpoint it’s quite doable, but no one is recommending that this is the right thing to do with the mustering yard,” he said.

Commuter parking lot — Although it’s a good location for a senior center, the property is fully used on weekdays by commuters, and users would encounter a bottleneck in the Lincoln Road entrances that are also used for the mall.

The DPW on Lewis Street — Most of the conversation in this group focused on the “challenges and disorders” of the site, said Town Administrator Tim Higgins, who was a member of the group that looked at this location. At issue is relocating the DPW to the transfer station off Route 2A, “which is not an attractive use in any residential neighborhood,” he noted. Although the site has potential for mixed-use development for housing and retail, “there was more concern than creativity voiced about the site” as a senior center, Higgins added.

Residents who couldn’t attend the charrette were invited to complete a brief online survey or to attend one of the other community center public meetings:

Friday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. at a COA-sponsored open house in Bemis Hall
Friday, Nov. 7 at 8:30 a.m. (a joint session with the PTO and the School Building Advisory Committee) in the Brooks auditorium

Abacus and CCSC members will analyze the information gleaned from the forums to craft a proposal for residents to consider at the State of the Town meeting on November 15.

Letter to the editor: Celebrate inclusion with community center

October 1, 2014

To the editor:

For the first time in many years, Lincoln has an opportunity to complete a long-held dream of many citizens by the addition of a multigenerational community center on a Lincoln community campus.

Lincoln first expressed the dream in 1932 and began its long tradition of celebrating diversity and inclusion with one small step—it built a ballfield. An anonymous donor, believing the town needed a place for the townsfolk of all ages and from all walks of life to come together and celebrate community, gifted a sum of money to allow the town to purchase the land that now forms the center field of the school campus. The field was deeded to the town, to be overseen by the Board of Selectman. The field became home of Lincoln’s semipro baseball team, the Mohawks.

Letter to the editor: Exploring the need for a community center in Lincoln

September 15, 2014

Editor’s note: for background information about the community center, see the Lincoln Squirrel, July 31, 2014.

To the editor:

In May, the Board of Selectmen appointed the Community Center Study Committee (CCSC) to evaluate the concept of a new community center for Lincoln. Their charge requires that we evaluate options for the long and short-term facilities needs of the Parks & Recreation Department and Council on Aging. That evaluation will include what succeeds and what fails with respect to their current locations. Many towns recognize the value of a facility serving both populations and as a central gathering place for all residents. Our goal is to make this evaluative process comprehensive, open and transparent.

On Wednesday, October 8 from 6-9 p.m., we will hold a town-wide planning charrette at Hartwell School Pod B. Everyone is encouraged to attend and participate. Refreshments will be served. You can attend for the entire evening or come and go as you please. We are seeking residents’ views on what form a community center might take in Lincoln and where it should be located.