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Home My WebLink About1927-12-08-REPORT 146 Dr) REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON NEW! TOWN OFFICE BUILDING At the Town Meeting held March 28 , 1927 , it was Voted , " That this Committee be constituted a Building Committee and authorized and directed to procure plans , specifications and esti - mates for a new Town Office Building . " In pursuance to the foregoing vote your Committee has had pre - pared plans and estimates of cost of a Town Office Building substantially as illustrated and described herein . It has been developed from a number of suggestions and designs as submitted to us by Messrs . Kilham , Hopkins , and Greeley ( William Roger Greeley ) and Mr . Willard D . Brown , whom we have employed as Associate Architects and who are acting in a similar capacity in planning the Isaac Harris Cary Memorial Building . It is apparent to every citizen that there are great possibilities in the generous gift to the Town , which , through the acts of the Trustees , provides , in addition to a beautiful Memorial Building , a site for a TownOffice Building and room for another Municipal building when needed . While your Committee was appointed to develop plans of an office building , it has been impossible to give this subject any consideration without quickly realizing that the appearance of these public build- ings planed upon the land chosen for the Isaac Harris Cary Ivlemorial Building will be decidedly affected by whatever use is made of the adjoining land upon each side , now privately owned . Some study was therefore given to an office building placed near Vine Brook and at the building line ( 20 feet back of the street line ) and so designed as to be viewed as a part of the business development along Massachusetts Avenue . Your Committee is unanimous , however , in recommending that the proposed office building be placed as shown herein , forming part of an harmonious grouping of three buildings which when completed will form a beautiful municipal center . LOCATION As indicated in the sketch-plan , the proposed office building is placed about 62 feet from Massachusetts Avenue and about 80 feet northwest of the Memorial Building , allowing for a wide lawn between and with a path and steps to the parking space in rear at a lower level . Entrance to the building is the semicircular drive leading to the Memorial Building . There is a service drive between the building and Vine Brook which provides the entrance to the Police Statirn and the parking area . THE PROPOSED PUILDING The style of this building is the same as the Memorial Building . The red brick walls and white trimmings suggest the Colonial archi - tecture of the time of the Revolution , and the slate roof also belongs to the period , but the interior makes no pretense at being a copy of the 6ld . Well lighted corridors are on the south side of the building with a staircase at either end . The Town Offices all open off these cor- ridors , and are interconnecting . Ample vault space has been provided by giving each department its own fireproof vault and there is also a large storage vault in the basement . Every office is well lighted by outside windows , and heated from radiators connected with the boiler plant of the Memorial Building . All have generous provision for artificial light . Offices regularly visited by the public will have the necessary counters anu grilles , and additional conveniences for the public have been placed on each corridor . The entire lower floor and exterior walls are of fireproof con- struction , and , as in the Memorial Building , automatic sprinklers are placed throughout the building , this obtaining low insurance cost . 147 ACCOMMODATIONS PROVIDED Every office within our present building has been provided for , and so arranged , we believe , as to best meet the public needs and at the same time secure economical operation . Practically the entire lower floor has been given over to the Police Department . On the street floor are offices for the Superintendent of Public "forks , the Clerk of the Selectmen , and the office and hearing -room of. this Board . For them there is provided a room 20 by 31 , or about the size of Cary Hall in the present Town Hall Building . The Town Clerk , Treasurer , Accountant , Tax Collector , and Inspectors may also be placed on this main floor as they are the officials having the greatest number of calls from the public . The second floor provides accommodations for the Engineering Department , the Water and Sewer Department , and the Assessors . There are also two conference rooms for the use of the Town Committees , the larger room being located so as to be especially available for use by the Registrars of Voters . Feeling that the fire alarm whistle would be totally out of place in this group of buildings , we have made no provision for it or for the tanks and machinery connected therewith . 1e recommend that this be handled as a separate project . FUTURE GROWTH wile ample provision has been made for the natural sr. owth which may be expected to take place , notably in the Assessing , =engineering , and Water and Sewer Departments , it is manifestly impossible for your Committee to say how long it will be before the growth of the Town will be such as to require more space than we have provided . We have examined office buildings in other towns and cities and consulted other officials . Based upon these studies we believe it fair to assume that the proposed building will accommodate a municipality of 30 , 000 inhabitants . When additional space 16 required , the Town will have the option of enlarging this building by adding on in the rear or constructing a second building on the other side of the Memorial Building . OFFICE FURNITURE We propose to use all the existing furniture which is fit to use and the vault fixtures . Additional fixtures , furniture and vault equipment will be required and your Committee suggests that $5 , 000 . be appropriated for this purpose . GRADING In the event that the Town should vote not to construct a new Office Building , the Isaac Harris Gary Trustees will carry out their original plan of building the main entrance drive and grading around the Memorial Building , if the Uffide Building is conftructed the Trustees , with whom we have co - operated in the lay- out of the premises , have offered to ' contxlibute the estimated cost of the work they had plan- ned , toward the grading and landscaping of the entire lot . Complete plans and specifications have been prepared for grading the entire area End bids have been secured for this work . Out total estimate includes an adequate allowance for the grading adjacent to the Office Building . SALE OF PRESENT TOWN HALL PROPERTY No direct authority was given your Committee to sell the present Town Hall property but in order that full information could be given to the voters , we have advert ed for bids for the purchase of the present Town Hall to be received on September 20 , 1927 . These bids will be submitted to the citizens at the TownMeeting on September 22 , 1927 . The proposal to purchase is subject to a one year lease , free of rent to the Town , so that we may , if the Town so votes , sell the property and remain in our present quarters during the construction of the Office Building . • t 1 LlE3 "Tr COST __ From actual bids received from a comprehensive list of contractors we estimate the total cost of building , furniture , rad- ing , bond for completion , architects ' fees and an allowance of 2500 for contingencies will be $ 110 , 000 . The Town can apply toward the cost of this project the proceeds from the sale of the present Town Hall , also the $ 11 , 000 received from the sale of the Rindge property . The appro - priation of $ 3500 made by the Town on March 28 , 1927 , will also apply toward the cost of the entire project . The balance of the money re - quired should be provided by the issuance of Town notes or bonds . CONCLUSION Your Committee is unanimous in its belief that the building described herein fully meets all present needs and is large enough to fulfil the requirements of the Townfbr years to come . Its design and setting as a part of a municipal group will always be a source of pride and satisfaction as holding to Lexington ' s finest traditions . we have , therefore , requested the Selectmen to issue a 'Uarrant for a Town Meeting to be held Thursday , September 22 , 1927 , in which will be embodied articles necessary to the acceptance of this report and to carry out the recommendations of your Committee . Respectfully submitted , William H . Ballard Albert H . Burnham Theodore A . Custance Francis Chamberlain Norman C . Hooper Arthur a . Maddison Fred H . Moulton George W . Nary James G . Robertson Albert B . Tenney Edwin B . Worthen