HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-07-08-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of Tuesday July 8 1997 Meetina in the Selectmen' s Meeting
Room, Town Office Building, as approved July 15, 1997 , then corrected
August 19, 1997
The meeting was called to order at 7 40 p m by Chairman Bruckman with
other committee members Johnson, Kelley (present for a short part of the
meeting) , and Touart as well as School Committee Chairman Peltz present
Also attending were HMFH representatives Dorthea Hayes, Philip Lewis ,
Deborah Collins and Jayshri Patel
Diamond Middle School two alternates favored by the committee were
reworked by HMFH and displayed by Ms Hayes Both of these plans add to
the existing library similarly with a one-story addition into the
courtyard between the library and the administrative area The library
will expand one room toward the cafeteria, using what will become an
area for computer keyboarding The present division between windows
will become support posts mirroring existing posts in the library now,
with the area between the posts to become an expanded reading area In
the first scheme (originally alternate E) the expansion will be a two-
story wing along the glassed hall and then extending out from behind the
gym at a 90 degree angle Two staircases at either end of the wing are
shown; these would aid student traffic between floors but both are not
required by code or the state A second elevator near the gym would
avoid need for wheelchair-bound people to go to the administrative area
to find the elevator for each floor change
The bus drop-off and turn around would be moved somewhat into what is
now parking area Entrances from the drop-off could be into the end of
the new wing or into the hallway that passes the cafeteria
The second alternative (originally scheme D) shows a wing back into the
hill from the handicapped lift side of the cafeteria This would prove
expensive due to rise in elevation from 206 to 225 feet at the farthest
corner of the proposed wing Presence of ledge several feet below
ground surface is a strong possibility If this wing were added to the
side of the cafeteria where the delivery dock now is and the loading
dock given access from the administration (Sedge Road) side of the
building, a two story addition to the rear may be more feasible,
Chairman Bruckman suggested Architects will rework this alternative as
well as the other one presented so that the committee can discuss them
further
Estabrook School new plan was quite favored by the committee In it the
present library would become the cafeteria and the two remaining
classrooms across the hall would become music and art rooms The room
with risers and high ceiling would become the library/media center
Present kindergarten rooms would be regular classrooms , while four
kindergarten rooms would be at the end of the new wing to be built out
from the media center The Learning Center would lie near the media
center The old kindergarten bathroom would have to be replaced or
modified, as it is not now handicap accessible An alternative plan not
favored by the committee would use the entry courtyard for the learning
center and destroy the mural
Harrinaton School enclosed courtyard plan was scrapped in favor of a
two-story addition to the right of the administrative offices largely
PBC Minutes of 7/8/97 - Page 2
due to the regrading need if accesses from classrooms were to happen
Three variations of the two-story addition could be considered, in-
cluding different locations for stairs and entrances Administrative
offices might be on the second story to allow for the early childhood
center and kindergartens to be on the lower level Architects agreed to
rework the plans to optimize entrance
Hastings ' two-story planned wing would locate music and art at the left
end of the main front corridor and leave the library where it now is ,
extended by one classroom The committee liked this plan, which would
add 18 , 078 square feet and would not impact the existing softball field
so much as a previous longer version shown in the earlier study
The architects distributed copies of plans for the high school -
"homework" for the committee for each committee member upon departure
In general the committee expressed concern that the currently discussed
plans all show addition of greater square footage as told of in the
Draft Master Plan (study) , upon which the $83 million project figure has
been based Architects claim that the discrepancies in numbers are
related to inaccuracies of the drawings upon which the study was based,
largely due to their being only line drawings not taking into account
thickness of walls and some types of space such as halls They also
assured that the greater areas would not necessarily translate into
greater costs
Committee requested that Richard Marks of Daedalus meet with the
committee in a week (July 15 , when the committee will meet at the Town
Office Building) HMFH representatives promised a revision of the Fiske
price estimates and also explained some of the organizations and
assumptions of the pricing Committee questioned if the cost estimates
included all the brick work that appeared necessary to fix the sagging
sills and lintels seen on the tour of Fiske's envelope
Meeting adjourned at 9 33
Respectfully submitted,
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Erna S Greene