When the big blue building at the top of the Common is once again white and bustling with town business, Harvard’s next building renovation, Hildreth House, will begin. Town Administrator Tim Bragan said this week that a request for proposals for design development was posted in the state’s Central Register today, and an architect should be chosen by the end of November. He added that he expects the project to go out to bid in February and construction to begin in May. Town Hall is scheduled to be completed on April 21, and Bragan said the current plan is for employees to move back into the building on May 1.
At this week’s Town Hall and Hildreth House Construction Committee meeting, member Connie Larrabee said that the Council on Aging (COA) needs to know when Hildreth House construction will begin in order to schedule programs and find office space for staff in other town buildings during the renovation. Bragan questioned whether COA staff needed to vacate the building during construction. Committee member Pablo Carbonell responded that the foundation and framing for the small addition that will house the lift in the back of the building could be done with staff in the building, but that staff could not work in the building while site work on the driveway and parking lot is going on.
When the new sewer line to Hildreth House was installed a few weeks ago, blasting created a new open space on the west side of the building, prompting Larrabee to ask if some of that space could be used for additional parking. Bragan said that no one should park there right now because the soil needs to stabilize, but the committee added that the new open space could be considered for parking when the design and development phase of the project begins in December.
