View of upper Town Hall in its current state. (Photo provided by town of Harvard)
From hammering out town issues to tripping the light fantastic, the large room in upper Town Hall has seen many uses over the years.
Next week, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hapgood Room of the old library, residents are invited to tell the selectmen how they think the 2,200-square-foot meeting room should be used. Although the renovation of Town Hall is not expected to be complete until late April, the selectmen would like an idea of how the room will be used by the end of October, when work will begin in earnest inside the building.
The School Committee’s decision this week not to pursue moving school administration offices to upper Town Hall (see “School Committee says no,” page 1) removes the possibility of converting the large meeting room to offices, at least for the time being. Now that the room will remain open, how can the town make the best use of it?
Partitioned meeting spaces?
Holding meetings is Harvard’s “growth industry,” according to Selectman Leo Blair. While some boards and committees choose to meet at Hildreth House, many meet in Town Hall, where meetings can be videotaped and broadcast on Harvard’s local cable station. The large meeting room, with its capacity for 140 people, has been said to be too large for most meetings, and the small conference room on the second floor holds only about a dozen people. To create more intimate meeting spaces in the large room, the selectmen are discussing the use of movable partitions, which will still allow the room to be used as one big space. However, setting up cable TV cameras, microphones, and screens that work in spaces that come and go could be a challenge.
Performances?
With the removal of the stage, followed by the removal of the raised platform that was in front of the stage, performance options are somewhat limited. The raised platform was removed from the design for upper Town Hall in January when the selectmen, after gathering public input, decided that the platform would have limited functionality, would lessen the flexibility of the large space on the second floor, and would be expensive because of the requirement for a stage lift. But the construction committee told the selectmen that temporary platforms could be leased as needed.
Volunteers Hall in the library hosts performances throughout the year, but any event held in a public library must by law be free of charge to the public, which limits the performances that can be held in that space. In addition, according to Library Director Mary Wilson, the hall is “very booked,” with events scheduled nearly every day during the school year.
Alcohol?
Whether alcohol will be permitted in Town Hall is up to the Board of Selectmen, according to Town Clerk Janet Vellante. Last week the selectmen voted to allow a one-day liquor license for public venues, available for $50. Events and fundraisers that serve alcohol currently have very few locations to choose from in Harvard, and the large meeting room could help fill that void.
Dancing?
According to Pete Jackson, former Town Hall Building Committee member, all sorts of dances used to be held in upper Town Hall, including boisterous contra dances and square dances. Jackson said that dancing is forbidden in Volunteers Hall at the library due to structural issues with the floor, but no such structural issues have yet been identified in upper Town Hall. “There used to be basketball games up there,” said Jackson.
COA events and classes?
Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson said that many COA events include food, making the availability of a full kitchen necessary. Exercise classes could work, said Thompson, but with the lack of air conditioning, some exercise classes might not work well there in the summer. Most classes and lectures would work, though, and the ability to broadcast them on cable TV would allow residents to watch at home.
Voting?
Using the space as a voting place would not work, according to Town Clerk Janet Vellante. While the space may be large enough, the parking lot is not.
Renting the room out to the public?
Some towns rent out their large town hall meeting rooms, and restrictions vary from town to town. Ayer charges $100 for one day but allows nonprofit organizations to use the room for free. Renters are responsible for cleaning up and locking up. In Shirley, the old town hall, now owned by a nonprofit organization, rents out the old large meeting room for dances and parties, complete with a one-day liquor license if requested. The room is also free for nonprofits, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are frequent users. The town also holds dances and a Halloween party there.
No one yet knows about sound quality in the large space. The selectmen worry about the acoustics because of the echoes in Ayer’s Great Hall, which make it almost impossible to use that room for meetings. But the Great Hall is about twice the size of Harvard’s large meeting room, and its ceiling is 10 feet higher. Town Hall-Hildreth House Construction Committee (THHHCC) member Pablo Carbonell said that until construction is complete, there is no way to tell if there will be acoustical problems in the large meeting room. “The acoustics of that room are changing with every change we make—when we install windows, when we insulate walls, etc.,” said Carbonell.
A citizens meeting called for the night of Wednesday, Sept. 30, was scheduled for discussion of options for Town Hall’s large meeting room in a more informal environment. Organizer Paul Richards explained earlier this week that he thought residents needed more time to mull over their positions in a forum with back-and-forth conversations. Richards invited members of the THHHCC so that attendees could “work with real information,” and committee Chairman Rick Maiore said he was planning to attend.
The selectmen’s session next Tuesday to hear public input on upper Town Hall’s large meeting room will begin at 7:30 p.m. The regular selectmen’s meeting will start at 6 p.m. and is expected to conclude before the public input session begins. Another public input session will be held on Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the best use of the old library when town offices move back to Town Hall.
