2013-00-00-Cary Memorial Building Renovation and Facilities Improvements..rpt

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Cary Memorial Building Renovation and Facilities Improvements 1) Make it possible for participants at Town meeting, graduations, lectures and other meetings to be able to hear and understand people when they speak in Battin Hall. Reduce HVAC noise levels, improve hall acoustics, and replace dysfunctional public address and AV technology systems. 2) Make all the other meeting rooms in the building function better so they will satisfy high demand for such spaces in Town. Reduce HVAC noise levels, provide 21 century AV technology for presentation and st telecast… in Battin, Estabrook, Ellen Stone, Legion and Bird Rooms., 3) Make more spaces accessible to the handicapped by bringing existing facilities up to code and improving others. Replace the exterior entrance ramp, for the first time make the auditorium stage (and Green Room below stage) fully accessible from the floor, make the Bird Room accessible, provide wheelchair seating in the auditorium balcony. This will allow for more of the spaces in the building to be scheduled for public meetings. 4) Make the building safer for users by bringing all its life safety systems up to current fire and other building codes. 5) Improve the functioning of the heating and air conditioning systems (which also serve the Town Office building) by replacing the 85-year old heating system with current higher efficiency units, and replacing and moving the current higher-than-needed capacity chiller before its predicted life’s end in 6 years. Benefits include reduced operating costs, and reduced noise in the building. 6) Replacement of the 1928 public restrooms with new and adequate fixtures which meet the gender unit count (and accessibility) standards for public buildings. 7) Improve the functionality of the original Battin Hall stage area for all projected purposes by providing sufficient lighting of it, and by restoring the below-stage area to its original purpose as a “Green Room” for practice, warm-up, dressing and holding of participants when not “on stage”. 8) Improve the functionality of the current temporary thrust stage in Battin Hall by making it larger. permanent and integrated with the original stage area. Assure continued use by current committees, schools and organizations and attract new ones for meetings, exhibits and performances, many of which provide rental income partially offsetting the ongoing required maintenance of the building. 9) Preserve, improve and restore a unique historic and iconic building in the heart of Lexington Center with respect for its architectural and aesthetic integrity. Fulfill the Town’s commitment to the Cary family for the maintenance of this gift of theirs to us for the “storing and display of historic treasures and the improvement of the moral, intellectual and educational advancement of the community/” 10) Make best use ever of Community Preservation Act funds – faithful to the Act’s intent – in improving a facility which already provides a wide range of services to the community, and whose improvement will assure more frequent and extensive use in benefit to the Town..