The Special Town Meeting vote this week to approve an additional $188,233 for Phase 1 of the Hildreth House project means construction can finally begin on improved parking, a lift to the second floor, and other important safety and access requirements. But no one should think the Phase 1 improvements will make the town senior center fully adequate to meet the needs of Harvard’s growing population of residents over the age of 60.
Phase 2 of the project would add a two-story addition to accommodate a dining room capable of serving 35 to 45 occupants—roughly double the present dining room capacity. A new multipurpose room on the second floor would allow for a variety of educational and recreational programs. The antique kitchen would be renovated to meet code requirements for safety, as well as practical considerations for the volunteers who work there.
The Council on Aging staff and volunteers do a remarkable job of providing support services to a growing number of townspeople, as well as social, educational, and health-related programs and events. But they are constrained by a lack of space, which will only grow worse with our aging demographic.
At present, Phase 2 is on the town’s capital plan for fiscal 2021—four years from now. By that time, the cost will likely be much higher than the $2.5 million estimate in the capital plan. And by that time, the need might well have outgrown the proposed building plan.
With interest rates low and the Hildreth Elementary School renovation looming as a multimillion dollar expense sometime in fiscal 2021 or 2022, roughly the same time proposed for Hildreth House, perhaps now is the time, as some have suggested, to re-evaluate the timing of Phase 2 and consider ways it might be done sooner rather than later.
