The Community Cable Access Committee reported this week that is has warmed to the idea of moving the town’s cable studio and offices from its basement location in the old town library to a new basement room in the Bromfield School.
“I know that when we were here a few months ago, we advocated staying where we were,” committee member John Burns told the Selectmen this week. “But,” he said, “when we had a fresh look [at the Bromfield location] from the perspective of ‘How does this improve our situation?’…I think we took a more open view of it and saw that there was a real opportunity.”
The pressure to find another home for the facilities of Harvard Cable TV first began to build last winter as plans for the renovation of Town Hall gained steam. Once construction began, Town Hall employees, it appeared, might need space in the old library to carry on their operations. Then came word this summer that the new non-profit Center on the Common had asked to lease the library for use as a cultural center.
As the committee discussed its desire to work more closely with students and to develop locally produced programs, said Burns, members realized that getting closer to Bromfield School was crucial. “The current location just does not help us in meeting our vision of working with students.”
“In addition,” said Burns, “our current recording studios are very limited.” Once the old library begins to be used as a more active community area, he said, “There’s a lot of noise that comes right down the stairs” as well as “squeaky floors.”
“Although we have a studio, it would be almost impossible to use when there are other activities going on in the building,” he said.
The Bromfield School has offered the cable station a basement space that is currently used to store documents and recycled materials. The committee has drawn up a “notional plan” for the available area that includes a studio, a server room, a space for public access and an editing room.
The new room has air quality issues and lacks air conditioning, Burns reported. The School Committee has allocated money from its budget this year to evaluate the air quality threat and will ask for money at the next Town Meeting to improve access to the space and secure it.
A move, if it came, would happen during July and August next year before students return from vacation.
Burns told the Selectmen that his committee has been encouraged by the support their plans have received from Bromfield Principal James O’Shea, School Committee liaison Keith Cheveralls, and the Bromfield School Council.
“This is a very nice scenario of everyone working together,” Burns said.
