Harvard’s vision of preserving common space in the center of town dates back to the 18th century. After discovering that the 30 acres set aside for a town Common and burial ground by the town’s forefathers had been reduced to 16½ acres through sale, gift, and outright “encroachment,” town officials in 1782 embarked on a conscious effort to preserve common space in the center of town by selling plots to some of the erstwhile land-grabbers and reclaiming the land of others. It’s a vision that has continued to drive many town decisions over the ensuing 250 years.
Now, the committee studying how best to use town-owned buildings on the Common is about to recommend that Harvard keep ownership of Town Hall, the old library and Hildreth House, and renovate them over the next two to five years, at an estimated total cost of $9 million, in ways that will strengthen their contribution to civic life around the Common.
“The punch line is very simple,” said Ron Ostberg, chairman of the Municipal Buildings Committee (MBC) at a public workshop last Saturday. “We propose that all three of these properties remain in civic use, that nothing is sold, and that we commit ourselves to finding creative ways of funding this.”
Although the plan is likely to be tweaked before it is presented to the Board of Selectmen in February, Ostberg and his 15-member committee say they will ask the town for $250,000 at Annual Town Meeting to design and put out to bid renovations to Town Hall. If approved, the town could begin construction in 2012, he said. Whether or not the town supports a “full build-out,” an estimated $1.9 million is unavoidable in repairing and bringing the 1872 building into compliance with current codes. The committee will also request $50,000 for additional “schematic” designs for Hildreth House.
“There’s never been a better time to build,” said Ostberg, who said the committee had found that bids for Town Hall restorations in neighboring towns were running “well below” original estimates.
These and other recommendations were made at the workshop, hosted by the MBC in the old library and attended by roughly 40 residents, including four selectmen and members of several town boards. “While work remains to be done, the results of our research and studies are clear,” reads the opening page of the 21-page draft report.
The MBC report envisions a distinct civic role for each building and proposes renovations to make each more suitable to its intended purpose:
• Town Hall is seen as the home for Harvard’s all-volunteer self-government, with offices for its full-time staff, meeting rooms for other boards and committees, and space for the storage of town records. The plan calls for renovations to bring the building up to code and a two-story addition to provide a new secure vault, meeting rooms, and an elevator to the second floor. MBC also proposes that the second floor auditorium be restored as both a public meeting and performance space, but has not included that cost in its estimates. Estimated total cost is $4.5 million.
“We’d like to see all of government located in Town Hall and not scattered around town,” said Pete Jackson, who headed the MBC’s town government subgroup.
• Hildreth House would remain the town’s senior center, “a home away from home,” but would receive a new two-story addition to provide offices and space for programs as well as both permanent and visiting staff. Parking and accessibility would be upgraded to better accommodate the oldest members of the community. The current rough-cost estimate is $2.2 million, but Ostberg believes this number can be reduced substantially with a different design than the one presented this week.
• The old library would become a “hub of cultural activity.” Existing rooms would be reconfigured to support meetings, classes, and exhibits; changes to be made include a new elevator and stairway, to bring the building up to code. MBC members say that a public-private partnership, such as a nonprofit foundation, should be explored, since such an organization could fund and manage a cultural center with minimal cost to the town. Such an organization might also raise money and manage the Town Hall auditorium. MBC estimates that roughly $2.2 million would be required.
“This is a big ticket item,” said Ostberg. “If you tally up all the numbers to do all of the work, you’re looking at $7, $8, $9 million dollars. We know that’s not going to go through Town Meeting. No one these days is going to appropriate that kind of money.”
But, he said, as he and his committee researched approaches used by other Massachusetts towns, “we realized that there are sources and techniques, like nonprofits, that will mitigate these costs.”
Researching those options will be a key task of the committee prior to its appearance before the selectmen.
“We’re disinclined to go to the taxpayers for this money,” said Selectwoman Marie Sobalvarro, who with BOS Chairman Peter Warren is leading the search for funding.
Harvard’s struggles to maintain a Common are documented in the books Directions of a Town, by Robert C, Anderson (available for sale at the General Store, Fruitlands, and elsewhere), and History of Harvard, by Henry Nourse (available in the Harvard Public Library reference room.)
“What’s important to note,’ said Carlene Phillips of Oak Hill Road and an MBC subcommittee member at the Saturday workshop, “is that town officials did, in fact, make a conscious choice to stop selling off land and to keep a sizeable acreage as public space.”
Further, she said that decisions regarding development of town land were guided by the vision of the Common and its surrounding homes, business, churches and municipal buildings as the center of town life. “In determining our future, we should not choose a course for the town without being guided by the values and investment of people from its past,” said Phillips.
