Author: lincolncommunitycenterteam

Lincoln has known for a long time that Bemis Hall is not an appropriate building for the Council on Aging & Human Services (COA&HS):

• A 2008 needs assessment “determined that Bemis Hall not be the long-term home for the COA.”  (Since that assessment, the Lincoln senior population has increased by 50%.)
• In 2012, the Community Center Feasibility Committee (CCFC) concluded about Bemis Hall that it was “not built to be a modern senior center with myriad programs and services.”
• The CCFC reiterated in a 2013 follow-up that Bemis is “not well suited for a senior center.”
• In February, 2015, the Community Center Study Committee (CCSC) reported that, “compared with neighboring towns, the quality, size and condition of Lincoln’s COA facility is vastly inferior, and its physical deficits limit the programs and services which can be offered to elders.”
• The CCSC provided additional detail about the shortcomings of Bemis Hall: “the interior space does not allow for congregate meals, a significant drop-in area, adequate and confidential office space for staff and volunteers, private restroom locations, or all programming needed to meet the needs of Lincoln’s growing population of older adults.”
• In 2018, the Community Center Preliminary Planning & Development Committee wrote more broadly that:

Doing nothing to provide adequate facilities for the COA, PRD [Parks & Recreation Department], and community organizations is not an option.  The physical plants of both Bemis Hall and the pods continue to age, and it makes no sense for the Town to continue to expend scarce tax dollars to fix up, patch up and make do with facilities that do not suit their purpose.  Just as important, every year that these departments and organizations are not able to provide the range of activities and programs that are standard in other towns and are located in buildings that discourage residents from making use of their services means that opportunities to improve residents’ quality of life are lost.

In 2012, the CCFC studied other town facilities, asking whether any existing building could serve as a better home for the COA&HS than Bemis Hall.  The CCFC concluded that no other existing building could serve the needs of the COA.  Pierce House, for instance, has two assets – a good location and plentiful parking – but fails on every other criterion as a potential home for the COA&HS: the spaces in the existing building don’t match the programmatic needs, the possibilities for extensive expansion or reconfiguration are very limited, and Pierce House couldn’t accommodate the Parks & Recreation Department (PRD).  

For over 10 years, Town Committees have studied and evaluated options for a Community Center., and have consistently concluded that continuing to offer activities and services under the existing conditions of Bemis Hall and the pods is no longer feasible or acceptable.  Other existing town facilities do not offer a solution to the problem.  If Lincoln wants a Community Center, then building a new one is the most efficient use of town resources.

We welcome all input and questions from town residents, and will make every effort to solicit, hear, and address the priorities, values and concerns of Lincoln residents concerning a new Community Center.

We encourage questions, and have been asked for information on the Community Center Building Committee (CCBC), including its role and responsibilities.

In March, 2022, the Lincoln Annual Town Meeting voted with near unanimity to restart the Community Center planning and design process, and to request that the Select Board appoint a building committee.  (The specific motion is appended below.)

So the Select Board appointed a Community Center Building Committee (CCBC), which started work at the beginning of June.  (The membership list is appended below.). The initial task of the CCBC has been to prepare an initial funding proposal – if the Town approves this proposal, for up to $325,000, at the Special Town Meeting on November 30, then the CCBC will hire an Owner’s Project Manager and a project architect to prepare schematic designs.  The Town will have the opportunity to select its preferred design, and then it will have the additional opportunity to vote on funding for the construction of the Community Center.  (The specific charge of the CCBC is appended below.)

The CCBC will be building on the work of a series of town committees that have developed the concept and parameters for a Community Center in Lincoln.  The CCBC will refine the concept, incorporating lessons from COVID and from the school building process, continuing the search for cost savings, and incorporating input about programmatic priorities.

The CCBC and its subcommittees hold open meetings and invite public participation.  The schedule of those meetings is available on the town website, and the CCBC will use other forums to inform residents about upcoming meetings and their agendas.  We particularly urge residents to look for information on the CCBC website (https://lincolncommunitycenter.com/).  There will be a high-level overview of Community Center planning at the State of the Town Meeting, on Monday, November 14.  Then there will be an extensive presentation and opportunity for discussion at the Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, November 30, before the vote on funding for the next stage of the planning process.

We hope that this information is helpful.  We are happy to answer all questions.

Members of the CCBC:

AT-LARGE MEMBERS: Sarah Chester, Chair; Timothy Christenfeld; Alison Taunton-Rigby; Krystal Wood

BOARD REPRESENTATIVES: Jonathan Dwyer, Select Board; Margit Griffith, Parks & Recreation Committee; Adam Hogue, School Committee; Ellen Meyer-Shorb, Finance Committee; Dilla Tingley, Council on Aging & Human Services

BOARD LIAISONS: Lynn Delisi, Planning Board; Andrew Glass, Historical Commission; Steve Gladstone, Water Department; Roy Harvey, Green Energy Committee; Indrani Kharbanda, Library Board of Trustees; David Levington, Friends of the Lincoln Library, Peter von Mertens, Conservation Commission & Friends of the Council on Aging

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS: Abigail Butt, COA & Human Services Director; Jessica Downing, Parks and Recreation Director; Timothy Higgins, Town Administrator; Brandon Kelly, Facilities Director; Daniel Pereira, Asst. Town Administrator

Motion approved at Town Meeting, March, 2022:

That the Town provide the Select Board with a sense of the meeting as to restarting the Community Center planning and design process, and, if such sense of the meeting is in the affirmative, to request that the Board appoint a building committee, by whatever title, to review the results of previous planning efforts and to present its findings in an expedited manner so that a request for funds for planning and design services could appear on the warrant for a fall 2022 Special Town Meeting. 

The official tasks of the CCBC:

1. Review and become familiar with previous plans and existing materials. 
2. Create a plan for gathering stakeholder input, and for regular communication with, and input from relevant Town boards, committees, and the community. As appropriate, this will require collaboration with the School Committee and/or Building Committee. 
3. Work with the Town Administrator to ensure that the process for contracting with an Owners’ Project Manager (OPM) and project Architect are carried out in compliance with state law and with an emphasis on diversity. 
4. Review the program again, taking care to consider how COVID experiences and lessons might inform programs, interior space layout, outdoor amenities, and design, and the role the new and renovated school spaces might play. 
5. Review the two CCBC design concepts and schematics to identify opportunities for improvement, including potential cost savings that may be achieved through re-evaluating the project scope or by other means. Develop the schematic designs to the extent required to ensure reliable cost estimating.
6.  Lead the public engagement process which will culminate in a Town Meeting vote to select a preferred design concept and budget. 
7. Once funds are approved, oversee the process for finalizing the design, bidding, contract award and construction, including repaving of Ballfield Road and any new paths serving the Community Center. Lead public engagement process as necessary for input into value engineering. 

A Community Center not only reflects the community at whose heart it sits, it strengthens that community.  A Community Center is a year-round, intergenerational gathering place and activity center.  A Community Center is a locus for a wide variety of activities – health and fitness, social services, learning, eating, socializing, creating, playing, participating.  A Community Center enriches the community by fostering organizational collaboration and by housing an array of programs, for all ages.

At its heart, the Community Center is a home for the Lincoln Council on Aging & Human Services and the Parks & Recreation Department, both of which do much more than most people realize, and both of which run constrained programs in their current homes.  The Community Center also provides a base for 25 other community organizations whose work is critical to the quality of life in Lincoln.  But the vision of a Community Center on the Lincoln School campus is of a building that exists not only to serve important organizational needs and to optimize programming, though those might be adequate reasons for building a new building, it is also of a building that will attract residents of all ages to gather for coffee and meetings and informal activities.

Lincoln has a sense of community – we have impromptu encounters at the transfer station and at Donelan’s, we have annual events like the Scarecrow Classic, the Girl Scouts Pancake Breakfast, the July 4 parade, and we have Town Meeting.  But the everyday contribution of a Community Center to the life of the community and to the sense of community can be far greater, and the possibilities are exciting – because the number of people using the Center will be so much higher, because the range of activities will be much greater, because the opportunities for intergenerational interaction will expand, because the provision of social services will be improved and the organizations providing those services will be more robust.

On Wednesday, November 30, the residents of Lincoln will assemble at a Special Town Meeting to decide whether to spend up to $325,000 for the development of preliminary schematic design options for a new Community Center, which would be built on the Hartwell campus at the Lincoln Schools.  Prior to the Special Town Meeting, residents will have the opportunity to get a high-level overview of Community Center planning at the State of the Town Meeting – the Community Center will be on the agenda for the first session, on Monday, November 14.  (Register for both sessions here:  https://www.lincolntown.org/1372/2022-State-of-the-Town.)  Additionally, interested residents are encouraged to attend the next meeting of the Community Center Building Committee (CCBC), at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16.  Ongoing information about the Community Center and about opportunities to learn and participate will be on the CCBC website: https://lincolncommunitycenter.com/.

Before the State of the Town Meeting, the CCBC will share a series of posts that outline some facts, history and values that can help foster informed debate and clarify important decisions.  The specific posts will address a series of basic questions:

• The vision: what is a Community Center, and why would Lincoln want to build one?
• What is the CCBC – which stakeholders are represented, what are its tasks, and how can others participate?
• Why would Lincoln build a new Community Center rather than use existing buildings?
• Why would the Community Center be on the Hartwell campus?
• What is the recent history of official discussion of a Community Center in Lincoln – what questions have previous committees asked and what answers has Lincoln given to those questions?

The CCBC recognizes that Lincoln residents will also have many important questions about the expected costs of the project – for the initial phase and for the entire project, for the town as a whole and for each household, for construction and for operation.  The CCBC will attempt to provide all the relevant information on costs and financing, with input and guidance from the Finance Committee, following an open CCBC meeting on Monday, November 14.

The CCBC is aiming for maximum transparency, welcomes all input and questions, and will make every effort to solicit, hear, and address the priorities, values and concerns of Lincoln residents.