Third time’s the charm? That’s what a new group with a plan to use the old library as a cultural center is hoping. Next week, the Board of Selectmen will hold a public input session regarding the use of the old library building after town employees move back into Town Hall. During that session, a new organization, Harvard Cultural Collaborative Inc., will present a business plan to lease the building for a cultural community center, an endeavor that has been attempted before with varying degrees of financial success. The selectmen will hear the Cultural Collaborative’s plan, along with any other input from town residents, at their public session on Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hapgood Room of the old library.
How did we get here?
After the new library opened in 2007, the old library sat vacant except for the annual book sale. In 2010 the Municipal Building Committee, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, created a working group called the Pilot Project to see if the old library could house a self-sustaining community cultural center. According to Willie Wickman, who chaired the working group, the experiment was a success, and in 2012 funds earned by the Pilot Project were spent on a professional feasibility study for a permanent community cultural center in the old library.
“Part of what we want to do is to make sure that the building stays in community use. It’s a cherished asset of the town, and we’d hate for the town to lose it.”
—Kirsti Gamage, HCC member
In September 2012, based on the study and the success of the Pilot Project, the selectmen voted to lease the old library to a new nonprofit organization called the Center on the Common. A year later, that organization was beset with financial problems, and late in 2014 it came to light that the Center on the Common owed the town more than $9,000 in back rent and utilities and had let its liability insurance lapse earlier in the year. The center was closed, and a few months later, when renovations on Town Hall were about to begin, town offices moved into the old library. Town Hall is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in late April 2016, prompting the selectmen to consider the next purpose for the old library.
What is the HCC?
The Harvard Cultural Collaborative (HCC) hopes that the selectmen will see it as a good fit. The HCC is a nonprofit organization that consists of 10 Harvard residents with diverse backgrounds, including art, music, business, finance, and law. Some board members were previously involved with the Pilot Project, and according to one of those board members, Willie Wickman, the HCC is modeling some of its plans on that project. They have also looked at art centers in other towns, such as the Westford Parish Center for the Arts. “We’ve learned from the missteps and successes of other organizations,” said Wickman. She has contacted about half of the people who offered classes and events at the old library during the Pilot Project, she related, and all but one of them said they would be interested in participating in a new cultural center in Harvard.
The HCC’s plans
The group envisions using the building for classes for both adults and children, as well as for events such as gallery showings and performance art. It hopes to collaborate with other organizations in town to hold larger events, like the much-loved storytelling festival that was held in Harvard for many years. Board member Jim Breslauer said he has received a list from Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson detailing events that she would like to hold for seniors but can’t because of space constraints at Hildreth House.
The collaborative’s plans for the old library also include renting out meeting space, which could include regular space for some town boards and committees. Before town employees moved in earlier this year, a few town committees held their regular meetings in the old library. All but one of them, the Parks and Recreation Commission, have found new homes. Wickman said if the town needed meeting space in the building, the HCC would work with the town to schedule those. She added that it’s important to the HCC that the building be used for the whole community, and that if the collaborative gets the lease, it would encourage anyone who wants to use it to do so.
“Part of what we want to do is to make sure that the building stays in community use,” said HCC committee member Kirsti Gamage. “It’s a cherished asset of the town, and we’d hate for the town to lose it.” The HCC would like to lease the building for five years, partly because it would enable the organization to show stability when applying for grants. “We want to work with the selectmen to try to figure out how to best utilize the old library for the people in town,” said Wickman.
Condition of the building
The building itself is not in dire need of repairs. Before town employees moved in, a new rubber floor was installed in the basement, some electrical upgrades were done, and the building was thoroughly cleaned. The HCC does have a list of building improvements it would like to make as tenant, including a wheelchair-accessible bathroom on the first floor. Larger improvements would depend on the success of fundraising, but the collaborative would probably do some cosmetic work before moving in, such as paint and improve lighting. “It needs to be a beautiful space so people will want to go there,” said Wickman.
Accessibility?
The lack of accessibility continues to cast a large shadow over the old library. According to Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro, whether the building needs to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will depend on who uses the building next and how it will be used. There is an ADA-compliant elevator from the basement to the mezzanine, and one wheelchair accessible bathroom in the basement.
But a report delivered to the town following a site visit from the Massachusetts Office on Disability in 2014 cited “no accessible route provided to either the main entrance or to the basement entrance.” The slope of the walkway that leads to the only accessible door was measured at 12 percent in some places, more than the 8 percent limit for ramp slopes. In addition, the designated accessible parking space is not large enough to accommodate a van. Breslauer said that as a nonprofit organization, HCC would need to make any substantial changes to the building ADA compliant. Otherwise, it just has to do what is reasonable within its budget. But, he said, if the HCC becomes the old library’s next tenant, one of its goals within the next five years would be to make the building accessible to everyone.
School Committee will be watching
The School Committee has also expressed interest in using space in the old library for school administration offices, currently located in the Bromfield House. The selectmen are aware of the committee’s interest in the building, but at a recent School Committee meeting, Selectman Leo Blair expressed concern over the difficulty of creating permanent office space in the old library due to its masonry construction. He also cited the high cost of providing full ADA compliance, which would be triggered by any major construction project. School Committee Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger said that the committee has decided to gather information from the old library public input session at the selectmen’s Oct. 20 meeting rather than participate in it.
