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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-06-14-LBC-min.pdf LEXINGTON BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE Minutes - June 14, 1972 The meeting was called to order by the temporary chairman, Dick Michelson at 7 30 p.m Members absent were King Howard, Linc Cole, Fred James, Ray Barnes, and Don Graham Present besidesthe members of LBC were Town Manager, Walter O'Connell ; Jackie Davison, Town Meeting Member; Ray Flynn, Lions; Carl Drevitson, Elks; Marge Chester, Field and Garden Club; Marie Hill , Lexington Girl Scouts; and Captain James Edgar and Robert Marrigan of the Lexington Minute Men Corrections to the minutes of the May 24th meeting were made by Roland Greeley as follows On Page3 line 10, the minutes should read "had presented a paper on 'What Was Worth Dying For", instead of "was doing a study on 'What was worth dying for" The selection of Captain James Lima as Chairman of the sub-committee, on Public Safety has been approved and voted and a letter so informing him of his selection to this post will be sent by LBC Dick Michelson gave a report on the Parade Marshall 's meeting Major changes in the parade route for April 19 have been made a The assembly area presently at Adams School is definitely inadequate The new assembly area will be the entire Center Field area b The parade will start at Lincoln Street and Worthen Road and proceed in the reverse direction from past parades down Massachusetts Avenue c Reviewing stands will be at the Town Office Building d The parade will turn on Marrett Road, back to Waltham Street and then to the ballfield area The distance-o-fthe-new-route-i-s3.4-m-i-!ss as ,_rr„cJ to-the-present 2.6-r-H-es. Necessary vehicles will be parked at the High School Route 2A (Marrett Road) is still a problem as it is a State Road and permission must be obtained to block I it off for the 11/2 hours or so of the parade The new plan will be tried in 1973 by the TCC It is enthusiastically endorsed by the Chief Marshalls It was announced that there had been only about 10 responses to the coupon published by the "Minute Man" two weeks ago The letter from Mr Greene of Spring Street was brought up, as his property has been offered for sale to the town The possiblility of using it as a Permanent Memorial was suggested Mr O'Connell said that the Town was not in a position to buy residentially priced land -2- Mr O'Connell advised the LBC as to the plans of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rites at Marrett Road He has seen the architects plans and says that they show a magnificent $4 to $5 million dollar building It will house the National Library and museum of Masonic history and memorabilia most of which is presently in storage It will have a 400 seat auditorium which will be available to the town $200,000 is earmarked for landscaping and they hope to break ground in the fall They also hope to be ready to open in the spring of 1975 They do not want to intrude into the plans of Lexington's Bicentennial , but hope to connect their dedication with our celebration Mr O'Connell thought it appropriate for us to invite them to one of our meetings This building will be the 33rd order of Masons Administrative Headquarters They have a subscription drive under way for $12,000,000 ; !� $5,000,000 for the building and the rest for a maintenance trust LBC should contact Mr Maxwell , administrative office business manager or Mr M Woodford, Chief Executive Officer Mr O'Connell 's next item concerned the Regional organization He had attended the last meeting with Don Graham and was shaken again by the magnitude of the logistics problem He wanted us to be aware of two or three thoughts concerning organization needs I There is a need to call on boards of Selectmen to play an authoritative part - the subject is too critical for all volunteers - they need official I sanction 2 Need for heavy identification of functional department - logistics con- cern; traffic, parking, pedestrians, possibly public transportation Ex- cluded are events, accommodations, or commercial aspects If logistics fail , the entire program is in chaos 3 Need for addition of professional consultants to the regional group Indianapolis, Ind is an example of planning for a saturation event over a short period Indianapolis has grown up with its "Indy 500" - other Towns could not do what that city can Professionals should make crowd estimates, cost of control , what is saturation, what limits and expansions are we capable of - Dick asked who would finance such experts Mr, O'Connell said it could be done on a regional basis The first step is a voluntary contract by the towns involved - an agreement to put up money Roland Greeley will communicate these needs to the regional group Doris asked if such information would actually determine events scheduled "Definitely", said Mr O'Connell For instance, he feels the re-enactment in the program is a great thing but we have to recognize the fundamentals, We assume we would have a saturation crowd event as presently conceived In a limited area the -3- logistics problem is magnified Mr O'Connell said that the number of people associated with the control pro- blem in the order of 1 ,000 (special police etc) This includes most of the towns involved At $5 to $7 an hour, it would mean $5,000 an hour or $100,000 a day! Crowd could be held down by spreading the event over several days or spacing one event repeated every week Another suggestion would be to film the re-enactment to be shown on TV At present there are excellent films available If there is another re-enactment for filming, it would be part of the celebration; a chance for participation not only a historical display Doris would like LBC to know that she had the whole plan for the enactment written out including plans for crowd control which is available to the committee Mr O'Connell told LBC that there is a special town meeting planned for early fall , so that LBC should be thinking of its needs in order to submit requests at that time He was asked what specific steps are needed for professional assistance - what can Lexington contribute? Present statutes allow towns to jointly enter contracts for services pertaining to the towns Greeley felt such an agreement should be arranged , before the town meeting Dick asked whether Federal money was available Money is more readily available for permanent cultural events, rather than just the cele- bration LBC should check carefully time for applications The guests were then asked to give their ideas Marge Chester of the Field and Garden Club asked about the Grey Nun's property Is the town going to buy it? The Garden Club would like to see it as a park Mr O'Connell said he could not comment officially Mrs Chester said they do have plans for Emory Park including replantings and improvements Marie Hills of the Girl Scouts said that the Lexington Girl Scouts are preparing a folder which will show where the nearby camping areas are They also will hope to have the girls used in many activities during the celebration perhaps guides, manning information boothes etc On the subject of campgrounds, Mr O'Connell feels Lexington should make a determination about camping facilities, immediately This is a glaring weakness in planning so far We have to define our problems and/or assets and get under way Conservation land might be used for tent type camping Leasing land for camping purpose might also be a possibility Mr Greeley asked if it was realistic to expect scouts to really help in logistics problems Would they want to miss the events? Senior scouts would be used under supervision Mrs Hills pointed out Paying them might also be a possibility Mrs Hills said the scouts do not expect to be paid Mr O'Connell stated that there is a possibility of conflict with paid employees if volunteers do the jobs which would ordinarily be paid li -4- Carl Drevitson of the Lexington Elks attended the meeting in place of Erik Nelson who is ill He said that they are willing but have no plans yet He hopes Mr Nelson will come to a meeting soon and explain any ideas the Elks have in mind Ray Flynn represented the Lions Club He said their focus has been on the fourth of July, but they are very interested in the Bicentennial Jackie Davison came to the meeting to express her interest in the Greene property She was told that the official position of the town is that they have no interest Jackie would like to persue the offer of land and building if that is the case She feels it has merit as a location for the Permanent Memorial if such a Permanent Memorial is a museum or display area She would like to approach Mr Greene with such an idea The property is located on Route 2 and Spring Street, and has about six acres - is visible from the highway and easily accessible Speaking for the Lexington Minute Men, Bob Marrigan said that it was known the Centennial Legion would be here in 1975 The Lexington Minute Men will of course take a very active part in the activities As yet it is too early to define, what part that will be Mr Greeley said he feels that there should be a very high priority put on the decision as to how many parades there will be Mr O'Connell said the authority F for such a decision is with LBC in conjunction with TCC Dick said LBC is scheduled � to have a solid list of events by summer Becky Nussdorfer read thedletter from Florence Bernier of the DAR. They would like to plant a tree on Buckman Tavern Lawn, if permissible and call it the Liberty Tree Mrs Bernier has offered a tree and hopes to get the Park Department to transplant the tree DAR will pay for the transplanting which would take place on the first of April 1973 DAR would place a placque on the tree Also, the Lexington DAR offe help man ttie historical houses in costume if needed ana wanted This letter is placed on file Mrs Bernier also had a personal suggestion offered in writing A copy of this letter is enclosed The meeting adjourned at 1030pm Respectfully Submitted, Becky Nussdorfer, Secretary AGENDA FOR JUNE 28, 1972 COMMITTEE MEMBERS Roland Greeley - progress of Planning Board Warren Butters - historian-2 names, progress pm subcommittes with Bob Reynolds Ray Barnes - committee letterhead and symbol COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION School Department Appointment - K. L Howard Administration - K. L Howard Becky - Secretary Doris Pullen - 3 names GUESTS Major General Shiely, Base Commander, Hanscom Field Neil Cronin, Parade Advisory Committee TO THE LEXINGTON BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE June 10, 1972 PART I I like the idea of the early American garden to be established on the Harrington land, corner of Clarker Street and Massachusetts Avenue, but I would suggest that in the center of the garden we place a perpetual flame, fenced in, like the one at John Kennedy's grave, and call it the "Flame of Freedom" This would be a true "living memorial" The garden could be started immediately and be ready in the summer of 1973, flame and all - but the actual unveiling could be held in 1975 A plaque could read In memory of all those who have fought for freedom and to remind all who live today that " life without freedom is lifeless" PART II Later, Hancock School could be re-cycled into a museum when it is fazed out, which would be less expensive than building a new museum; would have its own parking space and be near the Battle Green The basement could be used for a drop-in center for senior citizens so there would be more than one use for the school It could be called the John Hancock Museum and on a lease basis be operated by the Lexington Historical Society the same as the Buckman Tavern is operated In a few short years Hancock School will be 100 years old, a true antique of Lexington's past, thus making it a perfect repository for historical artifacts Submitted by - Florence Bernier 296 Bedford Street Lexington, MA Resident for 30 years