Posted Apr 26, 2017
FRAMINGHAM — The 183-year-old building that served as Framingham’s first Town Hall will undergo major renovations.
Town Meeting members on Wednesday approved nearly $17.8 million worth of capital projects for the coming fiscal year, including more than $2.4 million for upgrades to Village Hall.
Located on the Centre Common, the building dates to 1834 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It remains in use today as a function hall, though the upstairs ballroom is accessible only by staircase. Other impediments on the first floor make it even more challenging for people with disabilities to use the building.
The building has long been pegged for renovations, but failed to make it to the top of the town’s list. That changed this month following the town’s momentous decision to overhaul local government. A new mayor and city council are set to take power in January 2018.
In the interim, some major capital projects are on hold, including major renovations to the Memorial Building. The estimated $25 million project was set to receive design funding this year, but was instead deferred until the new administration takes office.
Instead, Town Manager Bob Halpin and the Board of Selectmen proposed tackling the Village Hall project. Halpin said the building has become a “symbol of exclusion” for a significant part of the community with disabilities.
“It’s time to act,” he said. “This has been a priority and a need for a long time.”
Located on Oak Street, Village Hall once housed town offices and two schoolrooms, as well as the town library and a hand-pumped fire engine, which was stored in the basement. It was designed in the Greek revival style by architect Solomon Willard, whose other notable works include the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.
The building is managed today by the Framingham History Center, which rents the space out as a function hall for weddings and other celebrations.
While some Town Meeting members expressed reservations about the project, saying it should undergo design work first, others said the project has been stalled too long. Selectman Cheryl Tully Stoll called it “embarrassing” that the building doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, saying the lack of access marginalizes Framingham’s disabled and elderly.
“How much longer can we continue to defer the right thing?” she said.
Other major expenditures approved Tuesday include a little more than $3 million to widen the intersection of Edgell Road, Water Street and Edmands Road and $5.3 million for the Highway Department to pave roads and make other street improvements.
Roads targeted for repaving this year include Bancroft Circle, Belknap Road, Birchmeadow Circle, Blackberry Lane, Lavelle Lane, Irving Street, South Street, Surro Street and Waverly Street.
For the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Division, residents agreed to pay for a new pickup truck, new bathrooms at Cushing Memorial Park and improvements to Furber Park.
Located on Fairbanks Road, the park has seen a range of improvements in recent years, including installation of a new pathway and playground equipment and restoration of the basketball court. The final phase of the work entails building a new retaining wall and replacing the backstop at the baseball diamond at a cost of a little more than $190,600.
For the library, residents agreed to spend $715,000 to redesign the Pearl Street entrance at the main branch, and more than $255,000 for improvements to the Costin Room, one of its primary spaces for functions and activities.
Town Meeting also green-lighted eight capital projects for the schools. Among them is a $350,000 request to replace the artificial turf on the practice field at Framingham High School. Installed more than a decade ago, the 72,000-square-foot field has worn down and can no longer be used during competitions, according to background material provided by the school district.
The school department will also receive money for roof replacements, new furniture and asbestos abatement at the King School, removal of an underground storage tank at the high school, heating and cooling projects at multiple buildings, paving work and $100,000 to install new handicapped-accessible playground equipment at the Barbieri School.
For the fire department, the list of new projects includes almost $500,000 to design a new fire station in Saxonville, $450,000 for new boilers in two other fire stations and $325,000 to upgrade communications equipment.
The town will also spend $218,500 on police radios and $186,000 on an ongoing project to scan archived documents, tapping free cash for the expenditures.
Only one item — money to pay for new voting machines — failed to pass. The Standing Committee on Ways and Means raised questions about the $137,800 request, which would have paid for 20 new machines.
The current equipment was purchased in 2005, and is reaching the point where it will no longer be supported by the manufacturer, Town Clerk Valerie Mulvey said.
Despite their age, the machines are still accurate — a fact proven on Monday, when a manual recount of the April 4 city charter vote came out with nearly the exact same result as the electronic tally, said Audrey Hall, chairwoman of the standing committee.
“Obviously we’re not looking to have inaccurate elections,” Hall said, “but the equipment is working and functioning very well, and the committee did not see the need … to replace 20 voting machines.”
Town Meeting began discussions on the fiscal 2018 general operating budget at the close of Wednesday night’s meeting. Deliberations will continue Thursday.
Jim Haddadin can be reached at 617-863-7144 or jhaddadin@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JimHaddadin.