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

Letter to the editor: what is a net zero building?

Editor’s note: This piece by Sue Klem of Lincoln’s Green Energy Committee is a companion to “What Makes a Sustainable School Project?” which she wrote for the School Building Committee website.

To the editor:

Traditional buildings use about 40 percent of the total fossil fuel energy in the U.S. Lincoln has an opportunity to build a low-energy school building. Let’s do it as an important step in decreasing Lincoln’s energy footprint and addressing climate change. The School Building Committee is leading the way!

By definition, a net zero (or zero energy) building produces at least as much renewable energy as it uses in a year. This is accomplished by constructing a highly efficient building enclosure, using high-performance energy-efficient systems and offsetting energy used by the building with solar and other renewable energy sources.

There are already net zero buildings in Lincoln, at least two homes and the new Environmental Learning Center at Drumlin Farm. The recently built Walden Pond Visitor Center on the Lincoln-Concord line is also a net zero building.

“Mass Audubon’s commitment to net zero construction has driven design decisions throughout the project, resulting in a building that works with instead of in opposition to its surrounding environment,” says Renata Pomponi, director of Drumlin Farm. “Beginning with solar shading analysis to determine exactly which existing trees could remain on the site without impacting the PV production, through details like the interior daylighting and materials selection and the attention paid to insulation and weather-stripping installation, sustainability has been a guiding factor. Drumlin Farm staff are thrilled that the end result is a building that not only is cost-effective to operate on our nonprofit budget, but also reflects the very work that we do in educating people about climate science and how their choices help to protect the nature of Massachusetts.”

Green characteristics that the Environmental Learning Center features are:

  • Net positive energy
  • A southern exposure maximizing solar access
  • No fossil fuel use
  • Highly efficient electric heating and cooling
  • LED lighting throughout the building
  • Occupancy sensors and daylight sensors
  • Energy recovery ventilators
  • Visible stormwater management
  • Native plantings
  • Triple-glazed dual low-e windows
  • Daylighting windows
  • A super-insulated and super-airtight building envelope
  • Materials selected with sustainability in mind
  • Low/no VOC [volatile organic compound] products
  • No products with added formaldehyde
  • Low maintenance and durable finishes
  • Workstations located for access to views and operable windows

Drumlin Farm anticipates receiving a Living Building Challenge Net Zero Energy certification. The grand opening is Saturday, June 9 from 1–3 p.m. You are welcome to go over and take a look (after Town Meeting, of course). As always, Drumlin Farm is free to Lincoln residents.

The Walden Pond Visitor Center is another example of a sustainable building. The Green Engineer provides this description: “The building structure is an all-electric, net zero energy consumption building and implements “passive house” principles. The building has no reliance on fossil fuels. In winter, high-performing triple-pane windows and super insulation keep the heat inside. In warmer weather, ample operable windows, ceiling fans and clerestories create natural ventilation and light, reducing the need for air conditioning and artificial lighting.

“A 105-kW photovoltaic solar canopy provides shade over the parking lot and services all the energy needs of the building and state reservation. An electric charging station allows visitors to charge vehicles. The walls and floors of the building are from locally-sourced heat-treated maple, ash and red oak to withstand the New England weather. Framing and sheathing materials are FSC certified. Water-efficient plumbing fixtures and low/no-VOC paints and finishes were used throughout.”

These local buildings can help us realize that buildings now being built (or renovated) could (and should) aim to be super-energy-efficient, eliminate fossil fuel use, and employ renewable energy. In other words, a net zero building! Let’s work with the School Building Committee to create a sustainable school.

Sincerely,

Sue Klem
168 Trapelo Rd.

Letter to the editor: LSF supports options L3 and C

To the editor:

The Lincoln School Foundation urges Lincoln residents to vote for L3 or C at the Special Town Meeting on June 9.

The LSF has a 30-year history of funding innovation at the Lincoln Schools. In that time, we have awarded more than 500 grants worth well over a million dollars. Each grant provided resources not available in the school budget to allow teachers and administrators to do more within our schools. The grants have been funded in large part by thousands of donations from the residents of Lincoln. A commitment to excellence in education and innovative practices is, as these individual donations demonstrate, a collective enterprise that is deeply embedded in the values of this community.

In this moment, on the cusp of a major school building project, Lincoln residents have the opportunity to demonstrate again that we value education. Education has evolved in the last half-century. The traditional model of self-contained classrooms, which was born from the single-room schoolhouses of a century ago and then adapted to provide a work force for factory labor, does not fully allow for the education that our students need for 21st-century life.

Educational research shows that children of today—the adults of tomorrow—need to be collaborators, critical thinkers, and problem solvers. The teachers and administrators at Lincoln School know this and practice this daily.

However, the teaching and learning at Lincoln School is constrained by the outdated structure. Best practices in education insist on flexibility and small groups—arranging and rearranging students throughout the day to allow for project-based learning, differentiation, and meeting each student’s individual needs. Isolated classrooms placed in a row hinder this work.

School building options L3 and C both offer a fundamental reimagining of the interior spaces within Lincoln School. “Hubs” offer extra flexible space to better allow for small groups, collaboration, and effective differentiation. Additionally, the major investment of L3 or C gives us the opportunity during the upcoming design phase to specify features that further educational best practices, such as visually permeable walls and inviting and configurable furniture.

Lincoln has been on the forefront of conservation and environmentalism. Lincoln has been on the forefront of progressive social values and thoughtful affordable housing. And Lincoln can be on the forefront of transformative 21st century education.

The LSF endorses L3 and C design concepts as those that best support the district’s vision for education by providing an environment in which students and teachers can more fully engage with collaborative, deep, and authentic learning practices. Space matters: it can catalyze, facilitate, and nurture innovation.

This is an opportunity for us to come together as a community around a shared value and a vision for the future of education. On June 9, we hope you will join us in selecting an educationally transformative school building project, L3 or C.

Sincerely,

Trustees of the Lincoln School Foundation: DJ Mitchell (chair), Ginger Reiner (treasurer), Gabrielle Berberian, Cathie Bitter, Juliana Delahunty, Lis Herbert, Jen Holleran, Audrey Kalmus, Tareef Kawaf, Lucy Maulsby, Aldis Russell, Tricia Thornton-Wells, and Nick Whitman

News acorns

Steve Taddeo

Jazz concert on June 9

There will be a classic jazz concert of music from the 1930s and 1940s featuring Steve Taddeo’s Swing Senders with special guest Eric Baldwin on guitar on Saturday, June 9 at 2 p.m. in Bemis Hall.

Passes to Massachusetts sites available

The Lincoln Public Library is now offering Trustees of the Reservation “Go Passes,” which offer free or discounted admission to more than 100 natural, cultural and historical places across Massachusetts including the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, the Old Manse in Concord, World’s End, and Crane Beach and Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich. See this website for more information about the sites.

Sparrow Blue performs at next LOMA

Sparrow Blue

Sparrow Blue is the featured performer at the next LOMA (Lincoln Open-Mike Acoustic) night on Monday, June 11 in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room. The event runs from 7–10 p.m., and Sparrow Blue (Katy Boc on fiddle and Todd Nickerson on guitar) will perform a half-hour set starting around 8:30. The duo recently their third CD, “Rabbit in the Moon,” which had three tracks reaching the top 12 in the folk DJ charts

LOMA is a monthly event. Admission is free and refreshments are provided. Performers can sign up at the event or email Rich Eilbert at loma3re@gmail.com for a slot. There is a sound system with mikes and instrumental pickups suitable for individuals or small groups.

Event with artist Saul Melman

Celebrate the longest day of the year and join artist Saul Melman for a conversation about his sculpture “Best Of All Possible Worlds” as the sun sets and activates the installation on Thursday, June 21 from 6–8 p.m. In this work, a series of translucent casts of doors delineate the floor plan of an absent apartment and capture the changing daylight. Free, but please register online.

Lincoln Library Film Society screenings in June

The theme this month is”Native American Journeys.” All screenings start at 3 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room.

Letter to the editor: option C offers the most benefits

To the editor:

I’m voting for C on June 9th and I wanted to share my process of elimination of the other four options using SBC’s taxonomy:

Minimum requirements (R and L1): R is essentially opening the hood and starts at $49 million, but doesn’t even address some basic utility issues. Similarly, L1 at $73 million doesn’t take care of 2030 energy requirements. If we’re taking out a 30-year bond, I can’t imagine we would build something with a known compliance issue and kick the can a few years down the road for other repairs/upgrades. As the name suggests, this the “minimum requirements” option set and they are there more for completeness sake.

Upgrading current model (L2): This may be seen as the fiscally responsible, middle-of-the-road option at $8 million, saving 10–15% over the next set of options that offer tangible educational benefits. Yet, this is essentially succumbing to the Goldilocks fallacy when we need to make a capital decision with a 50-year+ horizon—much longer than the bond term. It’s hard for me to imagine spending this kind of money without some tangible educational upside.

Also, people may think that if we go above this amount, we may not fund other capital investments such as the community center because we hit our debt ceiling defined as 5% of Lincoln property assessments. With the upcoming higher property assessment, this is not the case. We can and should treat community center and other projects independently.

Transforming educational spaces (C and L3): Compared to L3, C offers more educational space with less square footage, as the two-story building doesn’t waste space on long hallways etc.; it’s faster to build (32 months vs. 36); creates room for another ballfield; and the compact footprint minimizes walk times, saves time, and improves interactivity. I am also happy with the aesthetics of C and don’t have any nostalgic tie to the L shape. Given the $3.9 million difference (C at $98.7 million vs. L3 at $93.4 million), I can’t see a good reason to go with L3 over C.

I want to thank SBC for taking the time to compile and thoughtfully communicate a ton of information. It made it much easier for me to converge.

Sincerely,

Fuat Koro
1 Sweet Bay Lane

Letter to the editor: do school repairs over a period of time

To the editor:

The upcoming Town Meeting in June will be crowded, long and tense. And many will not/cannot be there. It may be democratic, but it will not be accessible to all.    

Why end a school campus that is beautiful, has provided excellent education (as I am sure most would agree) and exchange it for a very expensive new structure that “might” produce “better” education? Engineers have said the current school buildings are structurally sound (else they would not still be in use) but in need of repair/maintenance. Wouldn’t it be more reasonable and less disruptive to all in town to budget repairs over a longer period of time? Wouldn’t it be more equitable, more Lincoln-like, to avoid debt that will decrease economic diversity in town and drive people out of town?

Is the process to eliminate what works sustainable? It was said that any demolition would be recycled. Recycling is growing more “expensive” now that China no longer takes our trash. And some recycling might not even be doable, except at great cost in dollars and to the environment.  

My taxes would increase $3,000+ per year with the $100 million option. Although I can afford it, I would much rather donate the money to people and organizations addressing the tragic results of the massive income inequality (that hasn’t existed since the pharaohs of Egypt, to quote economist Richard Wolff) that is causing massive inequity, corruption, and environmental degradation that affects even Lincoln. 

Sincerely,

Jean Palmer
247 Tower Rd., Lincoln

Letter from the moderator #2: general procedures for June 9 meeting

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of pieces by Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden about preparations and procedures for the Special Town Meeting on June 9. The first letter appears here.

To the editor:

Today is the day to review some general procedural rules related to presentations and speaking. I will open the meeting with some general introductory comments and the following information and rules.

  • The boards making presentations have agreed with me on time limits. I will do my best to hold them to it.
  • After the boards and committees have made their presentations, the meeting will be opened up for questions and comments.
  • If you are in the Reed Gym where there is overflow seating, you will have to come to the main auditorium to speak. There is a live feed to the gym but not from the gym. An assistant moderator will be in the gym.
  • When you rise to speak, please go to one of the two microphones in the middle of the auditorium where you may stand in line. If your point is made by someone ahead of you, I urge you to resist making it again!
  • If getting to the microphone is difficult (not just inconvenient), someone will bring you a roving microphone. Please have your thoughts organized so that you can be succinct. At the start, I will permit no more than two minutes at most per comment. We need time for everyone who wants to speak. At some point I may reduce the time to one minute.
  • When it is your turn to speak, please state your name and street address.
  • Members of the boards and committees may or may not respond to you specifically. That is left to their judgment.
  • We all should make the effort to listen to the speakers ahead of us so we can decide if we actually have something further to offer to the discussion.
Reminders:
  • Check-in begins at 8:15 a.m. The meeting will begin at 9:30 and we will be entering into the presentations immediately. Please be in your seats by 9:30 so you are not disruptive to others in the hall.
  • You have until Wednesday, May 30 to register to vote at this meeting.

Sincerely,

Sarah Cannon Holden, Town Moderator
Weston Rd.

Letter to the editor: invest in the future with option L3 or C

To the editor:

When my family and I moved to the area in 2012, we had not heard of Lincoln. During our lengthy home search, one town stood out for its natural beauty and open-minded people. That town was Lincoln. What started as a home search in many towns quickly became focused to Lincoln and we have now been living here happily for five years.

Our first impressions have only been strengthened. I have gotten to know the town more intimately, as our children have attended school and I have attended every town meeting and (almost) all special meetings. I have been struck by the discourse of the people: regardless of point of view, I have found our discussions thoughtful, and perhaps more importantly, to be coming from a deep love of our town.

The argument that I have heard most often made in these forums is that Lincoln is a special and unique place and we want to keep it so. Depending on the context, the person has referenced our progressive history, manifest in our town recognizing a woman’s right to vote decades before our nation, our town recognizing the architectural beauty in modern design by becoming the home of some of the greatest architects of the 20th century, or our town protecting our environment decades before this was commonplace. In all these cases, Lincolnites saw into the future and took courageous steps against conventional wisdom—in short when we as a town have been at our best, we have been ahead of our time.

I see our school discussion through this prism—my hope is that we continue to strive to be a unique and special place. To me this means that we must strive to create an educational experience for our children that is second to none. I believe that the C or L3 design would be best the way to achieve that, while still being affordable for the town. (I do not mean to presume that it is affordable for all, however.)

I also believe that how we engage with our neighbors is important. It is imperative that we engage in thoughtful and respectful conversation. I worry that we may be beginning to get frustrated with one another—I hope we can all take a step back and remember to be respectful to one another and also allow our opinions to change and be informed by data rather than hearsay or pre-conceptions. For example, it has been valuable to me to hear what educators in town say, rather than relying on my gut or my experience as a student many years ago.

Lastly, I hope as we go to the vote on June 9 that we all keep in the forefront of our minds not the day-to-day frustrations of this long school building discussion, but rather, that we are the current generation of Lincolnites that will pass the torch some day. It is our duty to continue to make this town a forward-thinking, progressive place, willing to invest in its future and remain ahead of its time.

Sincerely,

Hans Bitter
245 Tower Rd., Lincoln

Council on Aging activities in June

Lincoln Trad Jazz Band
June 1 at 12:30 p.m.
Dance if you wanna dance, sing if you wanna sing, the regulars know what tomorrow will bring… the Lincoln Traditional Jazz Band! Come to Bemis Hall on Friday, June 1 when the band returns for another sell-out lunchtime concert from 12:30–1:30. And it’s not just because it’s free—it’s because it’s fun! So take a welcome break from all that weeding and mowing, straighten up and sit up and enjoy. Or sing. Or dance if you can’t resist the urge.

Lincoln Academy with Bijoy Misra: India’s discovery of humanity
June 4 at 12:30 p.m.
Come to Bemis Hall on Monday, June 4 at 12:30 to hear Bijoy Misra discuss “India’s Discovery of Humanity.” What is humanity? What is that special endowment that the humans have that distinguishes them from other creatures? Philosophical reflections on topics like this engaged the Indian scholars around 900BC when they happened to ponder on the cosmology of the universe.  Massive wars and major conflicts had already happened resulting in huge loss of life and long periods of unrest. We will examine the philosophical speculations that have flourished to build humanity as a rational discovery. Humanity is not grandiose, but it is joyful internal peace. The COA provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome.

Mindfulness walks in nature
June 5 at 1 p.m.
PLACE: TBD
Spring can be a very special time to connect with nature through walking in a mindful way. Join naturalist John Calabria for a walk in one of Lincoln’s most beautiful places on Tuesday, June 5 beginning at 1 p.m. Where the walks will take place is to be determined. Unplug, disconnect from the world for a while and let your senses come alive in nature. These are co-sponsored by the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Lincoln Council on Aging. For more information, including locations of the walks, go to lincolnconservation.org.

You’ve been selected…
June 6 at 2 p.m.
…to drop by and visit with a member of the Board of Selectmen. Bring your ideas, feedback, questions, or favorite Lincoln anecdote. Whether you stop by for a minute or stay for the hour, the selectmen hope to see you from 2–3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6 at Bemis Hall.

Piano concert with Abla Shocair
June 8 at 2:15 p.m.
All ages are invited to a piano concert with Abla Shocair at Bemis Hall on Friday, June 8 at 2:15 p.m. The program will include “Four Impromptus” by Schubert, “Torre Bermeja (Serenata)” and “Leyenda” by I. Albeniz, “La Campanella” by Paganini/Liszt transcribed, and “Mephisto Valzer” by Liszt. The audience will also enjoy performances of an “Old Fashioned Waltz” “Lavender’s Blue,” and “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” by Abla’s grandson Zaineddeen Kawaf, and Beethoven’s “Für Elise” by her grandson Nooreddeen Kawaf. Abla, originally from Jordan, is a civil engineer who started playing piano at age 4.

Free elder law clinic
June 11 at 3 p.m.
Got a question about issues such as estate planning, MassHealth, protecting assets for a loved one with a serious disability, guardianship, conservatorship, or probate? The COA is pleased to provide a monthly legal clinic with elder law attorney and Lincoln resident Sasha Golden on Monday, June 11 from 3–4 p.m. at Bemis Hall. There is no charge for the 30-minute consultation, but please sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811.

Free wellness clinic for all ages
June 12 at 10 a.m.
PLACE: Lincoln Woods
Meet with a nurse at 50 Wells Rd. in Lincoln Woods on Tuesday, June 12 from 10 a.m. to noon. Blood pressure, nutrition and fitness, medication management, chronic disease management, resources, and more. Funded by the Ogden Codman Trust and provided by Emerson Hospital Home Care.

Playreading: “Summer and Smoke”
June 12 at 11 a.m.
Free your inner thespian! Sally Kindleberger leads a group in reading Tennessee Williams’ romantic drama “Summer and Smoke” on Tuesdays, June 12 and 19 at 11 a.m. at Bemis Hall. Sally will bring copies.

Staying in touch
June 12 at 2 p.m.
You are invited to join this informal group which focuses their monthly discussion on social, cultural, and technological issues of the day. Please join them the second Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. at Bemis Hall. All are welcome and encouraged to bring topics that interest them.

Surviving… and thriving through life’s challenges
June 13 at 9:30 a.m.
No matter what you have encountered in life, you can learn and apply the scientifically-proven tenets of Positive Psychology to become more resilient and happier. Come to Bemis Hall at 9:30 on Wednesday, June 13 to learn practical strategies, share practices, build connections and support each other. Facilitated by Alyson Lee, social worker, life coach, certified and licensed facilitator of Positive Psychology. Funded by the Friends of the COA.

June 13 at 10 a.m.
Cooking for one: a new way of cooking and eating
Cooking for one can be both a challenge and an opportunity to try new foods and ways of cooking. How do you cook without wasting food? How can you eat all those leftovers? How do you downsize recipes? Whether you have lived alone for a long time or it’s a new experience for you, come to Bemis Hall on Wednesday, June 13 at 10 a.m. when Karen Halloran of CareOne in Concord will provide a demonstration of how to cook efficiently and deliciously for one and then give tips on using healthy and alternative food choices. Please sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811 so they know how many to expect.

Public safety cookout
June 15 at 11 a.m.
Join Public Safety on Friday, June 15 at 11 a.m. for a cookout at the Pierce House. You’ll start off by finding out more about current trends in frauds and scams and how to avoid being a victim, home safety from both police and fire perspectives, and services offered by Public Safety. At noon, Public Safety will cook up hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers with all the fixin’s. Because the event will be under the tent, the cookout will happen rain or shine. Please sign up by June 8 by calling the COA at 781-259-8811.

Newcomers coffee
June 20 at 1 p.m.
Are you new to Lincoln or the COA? Come on down to Bemis Hall on Wednesday, June 20 at 1 p.m. for coffee and conversation with staff from the COA and others who are new. You’ll have a chance to get to know some people, become familiar with the COA and its programs and services, and ask some questions about Lincoln and all it offers. This will be a fun, informal time to enjoy being with others and make some new acquaintances. Please call the COA at 781-259-8811 to let them know you are coming!

Celebrate summer at a strawberry ice cream social
June 21 at 12 p.m.
Celebrate this special time of year at the annual strawberry ice cream social at Bemis Hall on Thursday, June 21 at noon. The Social is sponsored by the COA and the Friends of the COA. Bring a bag lunch at noon or just come for dessert. Make your own ice cream sundae with luscious ice cream topped with strawberries, chocolate, and more, then share conversation with friends old and new. Please RSVP to the COA by calling 781-259-8811 (tell them when you call if you will need a ride).

FDR’s America: World War II
June 21 and 28 at 7 p.m.
PLACE: Library
The Friends of the Lincoln COA and the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library invite you to a free series about FDR’s America: The Great Depression and World War II given by Gary Hylander, PhD, of Framingham State University and Boston University. Sessions on Thursday, June 21 and 28 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the library will focus on World War II, including the beginning of the war in Europe and how the U.S. was plunged into the war in 1941 with Pearl Harbor. All ages are welcome, and you do not need to have come to earlier sessions to attend these two.

What to do when it’s time to retire from driving
June 22 at 10 a.m.
If you’re wondering if it might be time to stop driving or are concerned about someone else’s driving, come to Bemis Hall on Friday, June 22 at 10 a.m. when Michelle Ellicks of the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles will host an interactive discussion highlighting older driver issues. Topics include reporting procedures, relicensing requirements, liability, older driver assessment, the importance of obtaining a Massachusetts ID card when retiring from driving, functional impairments, and the effects of medications. You’ll learn about the warning signs of unsafe driving, RMV policies and procedures, and best practices to use when talking with older drivers about their driving. Information on disability plates and placards, the application process, eligibility, as well as a list of do’s and don’ts is also provided.

Preventing, diagnosing, and treating tick-borne diseases
June 22 at 1 p.m.
Get the latest information on ticks, how to prevent tick-borne diseases, and what to do if you have a tick bite when Lincoln School nurse and Town Nurse Maureen Richichi, RN, comes to Bemis Hall on Friday, June 22, at 1 p.m. She will discuss the appearance and life cycle of ticks, habitats and activity seasons of ticks, risky times to be bitten and risky activities, tick borne diseases and their symptoms, how tick borne diseases are diagnosed and treated, personal protection—how to do tick checks, safely remove ticks, safely repel ticks, and personal advocacy with your doctors. This program will be of interest and is open to all ages. Bring your questions and concerns.

Fruitlands Museum Hudson River School exhibit with lunch
June 25 at 9:30 a.m.
PLACE: Mall parking lot
Come with the COA on a trip to the Fruitlands Museum and Café on Monday, June 25. You’ll have a guided tour through the exhibition “A New View: Landscapes from the Permanent Collection.” The walls on the South Gallery will be resplendent with a salon-style display of the largest grouping in decades of landscape paintings from the museum’s permanent collection. Featuring more than 50 paintings from Hudson River School painters including Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Cole, and Frederic Church, the 19th-century oil paintings will transport visitors to 1947, when museum founder Clara Endicott Sears first presented them to the public. Expect to be standing and walking. Space is limited. The bus will leave Donelan’s parking lot at 9:30 a.m. and return by 2:30 p.m. The non-refundable cost of the trip is $35, which includes lunch in the Fruitlands Café. To reserve a space, send your check payable to FLCOA/Trips to Donna Rizzo, 22 Blackburnian Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773. Be sure to include your phone and email. Your reservation is complete when Donna receives your check. Questions? Contact her at 781-257-5050 or email her at donna@ecacbed.com.

Fireside chat: Town Meeting—is the current format still the best option?
June 27 at 10 a.m.
Town Meeting has served our community well for over 250 years. Is the current format still our best option? Are there tweaks we can make, small or large, that would allow it to be more inclusive without sacrificing its integrity and purpose? Join Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden at 10 a.m. on June 27 as we mull over this long-standing tradition. Fireside chats are held the fourth Wednesday of the month in the Community Room at Lincoln Woods.

Letter to the editor: vote for school option L3

Editor’s note: This letter originally appeared in LincolnTalk in response to a comment about the environmental impact of demolition.

To the editor:

As you may or may not know, since last fall, a community of local architects has been meeting on an ad hoc basis and have regularly attended the SBC meetings and their public forums. Over the course of this process, we have tried to share our combined expertise with suggestions to the SBC and their design team to create not only a financially viable project but to do so with a bonafide respect for our Lincoln heritage.

We have a gem of an actual campus for our students, and it is truly unique for a public school setting. It fits with Lincoln’s legacy of preserving land in its natural state, and it is an extraordinary experiential lesson for our children on a daily basis: namely, that this community values our open space to the degree that our buildings quietly inhabit the land rather than the opposite—a condition that is unfortunately so prevalent in our current culture.

For what it’s worth, nearly all of this group of local professionals with worldwide experience favor a version of the L3 scheme—partly because we believe we should first and foremost fulfill the educational mission as best we can, partly because we believe the L3 scheme can be achieved with less wasteful square footage and therefore less cost than as shown, and finally because we think we as a town would be making a terrible mistake in abandoning our unique campus layout.

Most of us also believe that demolishing so much of the existing structures and spending $95 million for an “Anywhere, USA” type school is NOT environmentally responsible. Among our concerns is that doing so will lead to locating parking lots closer to the building such that they (with solar panel arrays above) will become a defining feature of a once beautiful campus. Along these lines, I personally believe the SBC has not had the best advice or has been deaf to suggestions about the many negative site implications engendered by the compact C scheme as shown.

Lastly, I personally believe the SBC is not fully attuned to how many people may balk at a $95 million price tag for the compact scheme when they figure out just how much their taxes will increase. The increase will be large no matter which way we vote, but I think folks should understand that there could be a “less large” alternative with a refined L3 scheme, and the benefit is that L3 both fulfills the educational mission and preserves the campus setting.

Please vote for the L3 scheme on June 9th!

Ken Hurd
21 Lexington Rd., Lincoln