A new contender for the old library building at 7 Fairbank Street has thrown its hat into the ring. The Concord Area Special Education (CASE) Collaborative sent a letter to the Harvard Board of Selectmen on Sept. 13 formally requesting a look at the feasibility of leasing the old library to house Colebrook High School, a 25-student therapeutic school run by the collaborative. It is the second group to request a lease for the building; the Harvard Cultural Collaborative asked to lease the building as a cultural center almost a year ago, and it has continued to press the selectmen for support of its proposal.
CASE, headquartered in Concord, was formed in 1974 to provide services to students from 10 area school districts, including Harvard. Colebrook, a public day school, serves students from all the districts who struggle with social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties. The school is currently located on Charter Road in Acton, near the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. According to the letter, the Acton-Boxborough school district is experiencing a space shortage, prompting the need for the Colebrook School to relocate by the start of the 2017 school year.
Members of the CASE board toured Harvard’s old library building with Town Administrator Tim Bragan in the spring. Following that tour, CASE Executive Director Thomas Jefferson, former school superintendent in Harvard, expressed CASE’s interest in a phone call to Bragan. In a phone interview last week, Jefferson said that the group came very close to finalizing a new location in Acton this summer, but the prospect of a lengthy renovation time prompted the landlord to rent to another tenant.
Classrooms and offices
The school needs four or five small classrooms and a few counseling spaces and offices. Colebrook class sizes are typically five to 12 students, and Jefferson said that while he didn’t get a tape measure out when he toured the old library, he thought the space would work. He added that the third floor would probably not be used because it would be difficult to make that floor accessible. Parking would not be an issue, he said, because there would be only six to eight staff members and an occasional student driver. Transportation of students to the school would be provided by CASE.
Jefferson said that portions of the building could possibly be shared with the town, such as the Hapgood Room, because the school is operating only during the day on weekdays. Bragan said that if the school leases the building, it may not need the offices in the basement that were used for the land-use boards during the renovation of Town Hall. If that is the case, Bragan added, the town could use those offices for new positions, such as a recreation director.
The CASE board liked the charm and character of the old library, according to Jefferson, but more importantly, it thinks the location is ideal because of the building’s proximity to Bromfield. Colebrook students are currently able to take advantage of classes and extracurricular activities at the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, and Jefferson said he hoped that those same opportunities would be available at Bromfield if the school relocates to Harvard. He added that the school would need some sort of kitchen, but it might look to subcontract meals from Bromfield. “We don’t have a Chef Paul,” he quipped.
As for who would pay for the renovations necessary to create classrooms and make the building accessible, Jefferson said all of that would be part of the lease negotiation with the town. “We wouldn’t expect Harvard to retrofit classrooms,” he said, and he added that CASE would probably bear the lion’s share of the expense to make the building work as a public school. Bragan confirmed that the renovation expense, along with a long list of other items, would be part of the negotiation process.
The CASE board is aware that the Harvard Cultural Collaborative is also interested in leasing the building. Jefferson said that the cultural center is “a powerful idea” and that he has “nothing but respect for the tremendous work that the cultural collaborative has done.”
The town gave the Board of Selectmen permission to lease the building in Article 5 at Special Town Meeting in 2012, so it will be up to the selectmen to choose a tenant for the old library. Bragan said that town approval will be required if tenancy for the building has to go through the procurement process and the term of the lease is longer than three years. But, he said, because Colebrook is a municipal entity, its tenancy would not have to go through the procurement process, and the town could simply begin lease negotiations with CASE. The cultural collaborative, on the other hand, is a private entity, so its tenancy has to go through the procurement process. It is currently waiting for the selectmen to draft a request for proposals to lease the building.
Bragan said that the next step for CASE is to have an architect look at the building to determine if the space will work, and he will call Jefferson in the next few weeks to get that process started. Jefferson said that the group would probably want at least a five-year lease to provide continuity for students and to justify the financial investment that would be required to make the building work as a school. In the meantime, he said, CASE is continuing to search for other locations.
