The Town Hall building project is on track for a mid-April start, the Town Hall Construction Committee reported to the selectmen this week. The schedule sets a fast-approaching deadline for the selectmen to choose a temporary location for town offices while the work goes on.
Relocating to old library gains support
As the date for Town Hall construction approaches, the Board of Selectmen appears to be closer to choosing the old library as the temporary home for town offices. Although they won’t vote on it until their Feb. 3 meeting, several selectmen spoke in favor of such a move this week, and no one expressly opposed it.
Town Administrator Tim Bragan said Appleworks on Ayer Road had submitted a proposal for leasing space to the town, as it did a year ago when construction was previously scheduled to begin. Appleworks would charge $78,000 for a one-year occupancy. Bragan said space is also available at 64 Jackson Road in Devens for the slightly lower cost of $71,000 for a year. Still a third option was the town of Shirley’s offer of space in its Town Hall; Bragan had no cost figure for that option.
In contrast, the cost for fixing up the old library to make it usable as office space, Bragan said, would be about $23,000, mostly for electrical upgrades but also including counters and modular office walls. Combined with an estimated $12,000 to $14,000 for utilities, that would keep the total cost for a year close to $35,000. Moving expenses would be about the same—$18,000 each way—for all the possible locations.
One major drawback to the old library is its poor handicapped accessibility. The only entrance without stairs is at the rear of the building, down a slope.
Asked what the state compliance officer had said about accessibility, Bragan replied, “It depends how you read the report.” Pressed for more information, Bragan said the compliance officer had declared the approach grade too steep. But, Bragan said, the town has used it for 30 years or so. “That doesn’t make it right,” board member Lucy Wallace said, and Bragan agreed. Bragan said he did not yet have an estimate for how much a more adequate ramp might cost.
The old library became the clear leader in the quest for temporary town offices when the nonprofit arts organization Center on the Common vacated the building a few weeks ago after months of struggling financially. As Selectman Leo Blair said, the selectmen did not want to throw the popular program out of the building, but now the building is available.
Selectmen approve design changes for Town Hall
Town Hall Construction Committee member Laura Andrews said that the committee is on schedule to recommend a general contractor to the selectmen by mid-March. The THCC also requested approval for two changes to the building plan, each of which would produce substantial cost savings. THCC Chairman Rick Maiore noted that the building committee is required to seek selectmen’s approval for any changes.
First, the THCC recommended using blown-in cellulose insulation instead of spray foam to help cure Town Hall’s well-known chilliness. Both owner’s project manager Vertex Engineering and architectural firm LLB support this change, along with all members of the construction committee. The committee explained that later repairs or changes to the building would be much easier with cellulose than with hardened foam insulation in the walls. And the cellulose costs almost $149,000 less.
Second, the committee sought approval to eliminate the acoustic foam planned for the second-floor ceiling. Given that the ceiling is 20 feet high, the committee concluded that the foam would not reduce noise at floor level by much. Carpeting, sound panels, and wall panels would be both more effective and less costly, committee members said. This change reduces costs by nearly $50,000.
The Board of Selectmen approved both requested changes unanimously.
Windows cloudy; cupola still up in the air
Maiore told the selectmen that the nearly $200,000 in savings from these two changes would bring project costs below the total budget of $2,266,100 presented to the public at the Special Town Meeting last October.
However, the savings are not enough, Maiore said, to cover the costs of two items remaining at the top of the committee’s priority list of add alternates (items not included in the base bid): new, more energy-efficient windows and a restored cupola.
Maiore said the windows are the first item the committee would add if bids for the whole project come in somewhat lower than estimated by Fogarty & Associates late in 2014. New windows would cost about $149,000, according to that estimate.
For the cupola, Maiore reported that the base had been inspected and was sound, needing only minor remedial work to hold a replica of the original cupola. Maiore pointed out that the cupola had been gone from Town Hall for 50 or 60 years. “This Board of Selectmen did not destroy the cupola,” he said emphatically, responding to an earlier allegation from the public.
Selectman Chairman Stu Sklar said that, with a sound base, the cupola could be added later. One possibility, he said, might be to have it built more affordably at Monty Tech.
