On behalf of Raymond’s Town Office/Library Building Committee, Marcia Corradini presented their final report at a Board of Selectmen meeting earlier this month.
The seven member ad hoc committee was commissioned in January, 2003 to examine the use of the current library and town hall buildings, determine future space needs and consider potential building sites to meet the town’s growing needs.
From the committee’s conclusions, Town Manager Don Willard suggested two possible courses of action regarding the future needs of the Town Office. One option would be for the town to purchase an acre of land adjacent to the existing property. With the additional land, the town could renovate the current structure and/or construct a new building. At this time, the town does not know if the abutter would be willing to sell.
The other option, and the one Willard recommends as being the better choice long-term, would be to use the town’s land at the existing Public Works/Bus Garage/District 2 Fire Station, located on Route 85. Public Works would be relocated to the Plains Road Public Works lot, a move that would provide them the additional space they say they need, and the District 2 building would be renovated and expanded for the town’s municipal offices.
“In terms of lot size,” Willard said, “(using the Public Works land) has better long-term prospects.”
The current Town Office building is plagued with standing water in the basement, electrical problems and a leaky seal between the main building and its modular addition. A 1999 study by architect Barry Stallman estimated that the cost of renovations to the existing building would run $643,000. In today’s dollar, that figure would be considerably higher.
In a phone interview, Corradini said the findings of the committee confirmed public sentiment.
“I think that the outcome validated many people’s perceptions that something needed to be done to address the Town Office as a facility itself as well as the needs of the existing employees,” she said.
In addition to studying potential solutions for the Town Office, the committee examined the needs of the town’s public library. Over the last 10 years, visitors to the library increased by 155 percent and circulation was up 218 percent. A study done in 2002, the Robert A. Davis Space Plan Report, projected the library’s space needs at 3,600 square feet. The present facility is about 2,000 square feet.
The library plans to rearrange their layout to accommodate the increased use as efficiently and as economically as possible. But the plan is only a stopgap to a growing problem.
At the meeting, Willard suggested the town form a new building committee to examine in depth the two Town Office options he recommended.
“It was a very positive experience,” Corradini said of her time on the first committee, “because everyone participated and contributed from their area of knowledge. Many perspectives were represented. No one shirked their responsibility for the reason we were there.”
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