Public Meeting this coming Monday regarding Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building (a/k/a “Carr Post”)

Public Meeting regarding Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building (a/k/a “Carr Post”)

This coming Monday, Oct. 25 at 7pm, the Select Board is hosting a public meeting to discuss the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building located at 363 Main Street. All residents and interested parties are welcome, and encouraged to attend! The meeting will be held in-person, and will also provide for remote participation, with details included on the meeting agenda posted here.

As you may know, in Fall 2019 Town Meeting voters appropriated Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds, and borrowing authority, to fund the restoration of this building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (The original CPA funding application is online here, with a supplemental narrative regarding project financing online here).

Since that time, following a lengthy procurement, contracting, design, engineering and permitting process, the restoration project was put out to bid for construction this summer.

Unfortunately, the two bids received – one for $2,109,600 and the other for $2,251,800 – were both well in excess of the roughly $1.2M construction budget. Therefore, no contract was awarded.

The Town is faced with a series of decisions regarding the future of this Town-owned building, which has been vacant for several years, and is in deteriorating condition.

Many comments and recommendations have been received, and are included below. This includes a memo from the Town’s architectural consultant, Lynne Spencer of Spencer, Sullivan & Vogt, which is posted here.

Do you agree or disagree with recommendations the Board has received? Do you have other ideas or suggestions you’d like the Board to consider?

It is very likely that, one way or another, the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building will be the subject of one or more Town Meeting articles in the spring of 2022. The Board is seeking broad input from all interested residents and others, to ensure that whatever direction the Board considers is informed by as much citizen input as possible.

If you have comments you’d like the Board to consider, or questions you’d like answered, you may present them at the meeting, you can email them to selectboard@wnewbury.org, or you can call or email Town Manager Angus Jennings (978-363-1100 x115 or townmanager@wnewbury.org).

The following illustrates several written comments and suggestions have been received in the past couple of months, since it was reported that the construction bids came in well above budget:

Resident comment, Sept. 2: In the event this project comes again before a future Town Meeting for additional funding, I ask the Select Board, Town Manager, and Finance Committee members to take note of Fincom Committee votes in 2019 AND 2015 with respect to this project and to re‐read their rationales before making a decision on providing any additional funding. [Note: the FinCom recommendations referenced in this resident comment are online here (pp 21-23) and here (pp. 4-5).]

Resident comment, Sept. 6: I respectfully suggest that the Selectboard: Authorize no more than minimum actions to preserve the exterior from further decay; and invite Carr Post supporters to form a citizens' committee to develop a plan, fundraise, and take appropriate action. After their action plan is developed and approved by the Selectboard or Town vote, Town staff involvement could be restricted to as little as possible yet appropriate.

Resident comment, Sept. 12: This is in response to the information recently shared about the status of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial. With bids for reconstruction coming in higher than anticipated, I’d like to weigh in on possible next steps. I would support the option to spend a limited amount of money for partial repairs, specifically the $850,000 suggested by Lynne Spencer of the architectural firm, to take care of some of the exterior and framing work, window and door preservation, etc. This would not only greatly improve the appearance of this beautiful building, this option would also take advantage of the Drake’s Landing developer’s commitment to build the parking lot, walkways, and provide additional plantings. While I understand this would put a strain on municipal employees, I wouldn’t want to see the town miss the opportunity to have this developer contribute to the project. I’m sure there is much to consider when deciding how to go forward. Thank you to all involved for your time, hard work and your consideration.

Resident comment, Sept. 23: I have been a west Newbury resident for almost 30 years. the soldiers hall has always been a building that no one ever quite knew what to make of it. It seems like nothing has changed, to now spend an additional $2M on a project that no one will use is not fiscally responsible. To honor our veterans the money would be better spent on affordable housing or support resources. $2M in a town with 1200 houses is alot of money per household

Resident comment, Oct. 15: I respectfully submit an idea to honor all of West Newbury's veterans instead of restoring the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial for which no designated purpose has been found. I think the town of Falmouth, MA has done a great job honoring its veterans, see pictures provided below and the few I attached. [Note: photos attached to resident’s email are posted here]. A memorial park was built which includes two beautiful monuments to memorialize the town's vets, yet also provides its' citizens with a lovely park in which to reflect upon and honor its beloved veterans. There is a "Memorial Lane" one can walk and read the names of Falmouth veterans marked by bronze plaques and a flag. In West Newbury, likely one monument could be erected, trees planted, benches provided etc. for our townspeople to come and visit, perhaps read from a book just taken out of the library. Signage can be utilized, similar to that along the Whittier Bridge Rail Trail, to provide the history of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, artifacts/architecture from the memorial could perhaps be implemented into the design of a memorial park. My father, many uncles and my brother were all in the armed forces. I have great respect for them and anyone who chooses to serve our country. I would never want to disrespect any veteran and yet I cannot in good conscience continue to support a very expensive project whose purpose is not in any way clearly defined. Preserving an old building is admirable but the cost to do so is extremely prohibitive. I believe the land can be used in such a way as to honor all of our veterans, preserve history and provide our community with a memorial park that can benefit all of us.

Comments above represent a subset of opinions in the community. Please make your voice heard on this important set of issues!