The moving vans will pull up to Town Hall in mid-April, if all goes according to schedule, and start shuttling desks, file cabinets, and boxes to the old library. On Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously in favor of the old library as the temporary home for town offices while Town Hall is undergoing renovation.
The least expensive option
The decision, which had seemed increasingly likely over past weeks, came after a brief discussion about comparative costs. Town Administrator Tim Bragan reviewed the other proposals, which included office space in Devens for $71,000 per year and at Appleworks on Ayer Road for $78,000. Moving costs, Bragan had said at an earlier meeting, would be the same, no matter which location the selectmen chose.
Bragan told the BOS he had a verbal estimate of $23,000 for the cost of upgrading telephone and electrical service at the old library to make it usable. Several selectmen noted that any such upgrades are capital improvements to a building the town already owns, making it more useful even after town offices return to Town Hall.
The $23,000 figure does not cover all the costs of converting the old library into temporary offices, however. And even that figure, Bragan acknowledged, is only a verbal estimate from an inspector, not a written proposal from a contractor.
Selectwoman Lucy Wallace raised several questions about additional expenses, one of which may be a 60-foot temporary ramp for handicapped accessibility. Snowstorms have forced the ramp supplier to cancel a couple of appointments with Bragan to discuss those costs, so they are as yet unknown. Wallace also asked about costs for removing carpets, cleaning up storage spaces, and other issues, saying she wanted to be sure Bragan was not lowballing the cost of the old library compared to the other options.
Overall, Chairman Stu Sklar summed up, the cost for using the old library seems to be about half that of the other options when all additional costs are included.
Parking will be a problem
Parking at the old library will be tight, the selectmen and Bragan admitted. Employees will be asked to park along the Common on Fairbank Street or along Littleton Road. The public will be able to use the half-dozen spaces in front of the building, Bragan said.
In the course of discussion, Bragan revealed that he had already made some fairly detailed plans for using the old library, even to the placement of the copying machine. As for the third floor of the building, which is not accessible by elevator, it will be used as the staff break room and as storage, Bragan said.
The Hapgood Room on the lower level will again become a public meeting room after the special floor used by dance classes has been removed. The room has the advantage of already being connected to local cable television, from the days when the Harvard Cable Committee was housed on that level.
After the vote to adopt the old library as the temporary home for town offices, the selectmen also agreed to put off consideration of future plans or the building. But they would return to that question next fall, they said, and begin well before town offices move out to make plans for the old library’s long-term use. At that time, other groups—possibly including the schools and a cultural center—should be prepared to present their plans to the Board of Selectmen.
