MassChallenge founder and CEO John Harthorne tells the Boston Globe’s Ellen Ishkanian that he’s disappointed plans to open a satellite branch of his non-profit at the vacant former Newton Centre Library fell through.
… Harthorne called the former library, “a beautiful space,” and said he has been inside the building and that it could have worked for his organization without the major repairs some aldermen believed to be necessary.
But Alderman Vicky Danberg isn’t so sure about that. She told Ishkanian that it would be “unconscionable to rent to anyone.”
“While MassChallenge has indicated an ability to work in spartan conditions, the building’s condition, with leaking windows and roof, cracked sills, bare wood and systems beyond their useful life, makes it a liability to the city and arguably unconscionable to rent to anyone in its present condition.”
Also see this memo from Alderman Deb Crossley written after touring the building last week. Crossley also distributed photos of the interior and exterior of the building. They were included in the alderman’s Friday packet. I’m not able to open them but perhaps someone else can.
I am curious what that building would sell for if it were put on the market? I seem to recall that the MBTA auctioned off the old train station building in newton highlands for $450k and that was in worse condition and came with a bunch of restrictions such as maintaining an office for the conductors on site and paying to light the platform and paying for all the snow removal etc.
“The building’s condition, with leaking windows and roof, cracked sills, bare wood and systems beyond their useful life, makes it a liability to the city and arguably unconscionable to rent to anyone in its present condition.”
Sounds like a lot of our elementary schools.
I’m puzzled by this whole story. If I’ve got the facts right ….
We have a publicly owned building that’s been sitting idle, vacant, and deteriorating for years. During that time various reports and plans have been written but nothing’s been done. Mass Challenge comes along, a tenant who would bring some inherent value to the city. They say,”no worries, we can use it just as it is”. The aldermen say no, “you don’t know what you’re doing, that building’s in too bad a shape for you to use”. The preferred use at the moment is to let the building continue to rot and go back to the status quo?
I know I’m missing something in this story but I don’t know what it is.
Jerry, although the Mayor never actually submitted a formal proposal, it was apparent neither the city nor MassChallenge were going to invest anything to save the exterior of the building, which is in even worse shape than the interior. MassChallenge was going to license the building, as opposed to lease it (which is how the city would be able to get around the state procurement laws requiring competitive bidding), but the city would have been responsible for all of the capital and maintenance expenses. In 2012, the city estimated it would cost at least $1.6 million just to make the building usable. The city has continued to neglect the building since then, and the cost of securing the envelope and saving the building, let alone restoring it, is likely to have increased as the building has deteriorated further.
A number of the aldermen visited the building last Friday. Unfortunately, the public buildings commissioner had to cancel a previously scheduled tour of the building, but Ald. Albright made arrangements to get the keys so that some of the aldermen on the Real Property Reuse committee could visit the building. If you read Ald. Crossley’s memo, and read the oped piece by Ald. Albright and Ald. Crossley in today’s Newton TAB, they explain why many of the aldermen feel the MassChallenge proposal failed to address the need to save the building.
The photos of the exterior and interior damage to the building posted on the aldermanic webpage will give you some idea of the deplorable condition it is in, which is why the Health Department was moved out of it and the building declared surplus three years ago. There is mold on the walls, asbestos, and water was pouring into the basement from a condenser as well as leaking in through the roof. In fact, we learned last night at the Real Property Reuse committee meeting that the City’s insurance will not cover it because the building is in such poor condition. In short, a little paint and paper is not going to fix what ails this poor, neglected building.
“MassChallenge was going to license the building, as opposed to lease it (which is how the city would be able to get around the state procurement laws requiring competitive bidding), but the city would have been responsible for all of the capital and maintenance expenses.”
So basically, we’d be giving MassChallenge free use of a building and Newton would still have to pay to maintain it? I didn’t realize that Newton had the money to give out corporate welfare.
Is there a reason that they don’t just sell that building? Have they had the building appraised? I remember going to that building when it was a library. I also went to the building when it was the health department and although it did look well worn it did not appear to be in any worse condition than City Hall is.
Most elementary schools have significant problems with mold, asbestos, and are in terrible shape, both inside and out. Too bad the Alders haven’t taken the time to do a photo op on them to garner public support to get them fixed. $1.6m to preserve a historic building that could provide a sense of community to an affordable section of the city that was divided when the Mass. Pike was built seems like a worthwhile investment. This is a political move, pure and simple.
The Newton Centre Library, and City Hall are two examples of pretty nasty maintenance ( roofs badly leaking, slate tiles broken, flashing temporarily patched, stone coping coming apart,.. Etc. etc. ) that city buildings have been subjected to over recent if not past years. Angier Zervas and Cabot Schools have been shown on city video as needing to be torn down for among other reasons their decaying condition.
In light of the fact that we are being told that there is no funding currently available to keep up with these conditions might it not be time to start thinking about a major bond issuance to secure our property?
The city should keep the building, fix it up and move the Health Department in.
Moving forward, it will be important to set realistic expectations. The Mayor surplused the Parks & Recreation buildings on Crescent Street and the Newton Centre Library because they were both in such deplorable condition that the city could no longer afford to maintain them. Neither building is insured. To go back and fix either or both of these buildings is going to mean that other budget items will suffer. And after a winter where the snow removal costs have gone way over budget and the administration is looking for parts of the current budget to cut, I am not optimistic that the money will be found any time soon, if at all. The aldermen were told that $1.6 million would be required just to make NCL usable, and that was almost three years ago. We were later told that restoration of the building would cost more like $3 million.
Five years ago, the aldermen were given tours of the worst schools in the city. An override and two debt exclusions were passed, and the city is currently renovating or replacing Angier, Zervas and Cabot, because we all recognized the need. Similarly, there are multi-year plans in place to fix the deteriorating water/sewer and stormwater management systems by raising rates over the next 10-20 years, because we cannot get by without clean water, sanitation and federally and state mandated stormwater management systems. The city has only so much capacity to fund, let alone do the work, on public buildings that have outlived their useful lives and are currently vacant. If it were not for the fact that the NCL is a historic building (unlike the old Parks & Recreation building), we would not even be talking about spending millions of dollars to preserve and restore it. Now there is a proposal to keep the Parks & Recereation property and build a memorial park on Crescent Street that will likely cost millions as well.
The City of Newton, as affluent as we are, does not have a limitless capacity or resources. Sooner or later, we are going to have to make tough decisions about what the city can and cannot manage or maintain. That is why the aldermen are keeping all options open on what to do with the NCL.
Have estimates been prepared, or even considered to be prepared , for repairs at City Hall ? It is leaking like a sieve, and there is water damage throughout ! The front entrance lobby looks like a third world facility. Lighting is out in the Aldermanic Chambers. Meeting room ceilings have tiles missing from water intrusion. Veterans Memorial Hall is leaking. Etc etc. This is an embarrassment .
I think that they should sell the old library building. I am sure that they could get a few million dollars for it. The MBTA has sold off a bunch of their properties that they could no longer afford to maintain like the train station building in Newton Highlands. They were rather smart in how they structured the sale as they still have retained use of the building in terms of an office for the conductor and use of the platform etc. but they no longer have to pay to light the platform nor do they have to pay for snow removal etc. I would like to see some of the smart thinkers at city hall structure a similar win win situation for the sale of that library. Perhaps sell a 100 year lease on the building and not the building itself? Let’s put our thinking caps on!!!!