Mayor Warren sent the following to Newton aldermen Friday afternoon..
Dear Honorable Board
Based on the feedback from the Board of Aldermen, we have decided not to pursue use of the Newton Centre branch library at this time for a partnership with MassChallenge. We will be working to identify alternative sites
Sincerely,
Mayor Setti Warren
What a shame… and so the building will continue to deteriorate, or be sold off to a developer. I do hope that a home can be found for Mass Challenge in Newton.
Is it possible to know which Aldermen opposed this project?
Jane – Obviously Alderman that are Powerful enough to make our Mayor “change his mind”.
Powerful? How about obstructionist? A number of aldermen/women who oppose just about everything. I want to know what some of these people are for. How do they want to make the city better? They oppose residential development, commercial development, and have a cynical view of public employees.
I write too fast, but it bears repeating, “A number of Aldermen/women oppose just about everything.”
Maybe Jane the Mayor decided he can make more money if he sells the library to a developer?
And as for the Alderpeople – Maybe they are being realistic.
From what I’ve been reading the library needed over a million dollars in improvements to bring it up to code, be weather proof, remove asbestos and make it ADA compliant, among other things. MassChallenge only planned to do interior improvements. Maybe it just didn’t work out. I hope they find a place in Newton too.
Can we get those Aldermen to talk to the Mayor about Austin St?
Joanne – My bet is that a number of the aldermen who opposed this project supported another project they knew perfectly well was going to go $60 million over budget, and who claim to this day that it was worth it despite the damage it did to the city’s finances. What’s that all about?
@Jane, Susan Albright on the Newtonville listserve and Ted Hess-Mahan on the West Newton Google group were discouraging people from signing a citizen’s petition in support of the Mass Challenge plan. Beyond that I don’t know anything firsthand about which aldermen were opposing.
Jane, I don’t understand the comparison. I’m not being argumentative or snarky just interested.
NNHS cost a fortune and shouldn’t have. So I know that. I don’t know everything about this project, but I do know those million dollar massive improvements were necessary and recommended due to an inspection resquested by the mayor, the mayor decided not to fund them and MassChallenge wasn’t going to do them. So it seems like a non starter.
What am I missing? Could you connect the dots for me? Thanks.
Marti – We have and will always have multiple buildings that need at least that amount of funding for renovation, in large part because we seriously overspent on one project with the full knowledge of the Alders, and that’s how the dots connect. A significant number of Alders knew that project was $60 million over budget and never informed the community and now complain about every public project that comes along.
As for a public building being out of ADA compliance, that’s the case with three quarters of our schools, and I don’t see the Alders bothered in the least by that. In fact, only a handful of public buildings in the city are in compliance and need much more than a million dollars in basic renovations. Most of our public schools and buildings need much more than that in order to be up to code and 21st century ready.
There’s another lesson to be learned here that’s slightly off-topic. The Library was “value engineered” to death and had problems even when it was quite new. Why does a 23 year old building need a million dollars in renovations? The answer: you get what you pay for. As we move forward with 3 school building projects, that’s an important thought to keep in mind. But right now, we’re about to let yet another historic public property go to seed at the very moment when we need every public space we can get our hands on. That old library building needs a lot of work, but it’s a beauty.
Also, Marti, I didn’t think your question was snarky at all. I was just surprised that you thought a million dollars was a massive renovation. As an aside, my main interest was getting that building renovated, and having some entity provide for at least part of the funding was appealing. Now our choice is to let a historic building go to seed or pay for 100% of the renovation. Just doesn’t make sense to me.
Until the voters clean house and elect new Alderman, Newton will continue to spend money it does not have, install traffic lights it does not need (which causes traffic nightmares), and push development projects that the overwhelming majority of residents do not want – all in the name of following an outdated, never updated comprehensive plan. We need new leaders with business skills. Our leaders have been here way too long. We all know the definition of insanity.
MassChallenge is a perfect example of the Alderman either not understanding it or passing on real value for the City because they have political agendas and do not like how they were approached.
Another option is to sign the League of Women Voter’s signature collection that would call for a charter commission. A charter commission will look at all aspects of city government, including the size of the BOA. In 2000, a non-binding resolution was passed by Newton voters by a 2-1 margin calling for a reduction in the size of the BOA, so the sentiment for such an action is definitely there. The League needs just 450 more signatures to finish up the collection.
Jane – where do we find the League’s petition to sign it?
I’m trying to get my head around the idea that the Library is only 23 years old, because I’d moved back to Newton for good by then and I somehow missed seeing it built! Could’ve sworn Jane was wrong about the time, and thought it must have been during my Michigan years, but checked and sure enough, Wikipedia says groundbreaking in July 1989 and opened in September 1991. I think I must have ignored the whole thing in solidarity with my mother who was so upset by the closing of the branch libraries!
Both my parents were constant users of the West Newton branch library, which was in walking distance. I’m not sure when it moved from Chestnut Street (now the Police Annex) to the West Newton Community Services building (itself the former Davis Elementary School), but when it did, and relied a lot on volunteer help, my mother became a volunteer and also great friends with the other volunteers and the branch librarian Arlene Siegal. And they knew all the regular patrons. It was a great community.
It’s really too bad not to have branch libraries now that we seem to be all about walkability and bike-ability. I am lucky to be only a five-minute or so drive from the main library, but villages like Oak Hill and Upper and Lower Falls, which all once had branches, feel a lot farther away, especially with traffic the way it is now.
Jane, thanks for answering. The city hasn’t done maintenance or restoration of public buildings because it spent way too much for the high school and we are in debt. And I have already signed the LOWV’s petition and agree the BOA is too large.
Actually I don’t think $1.5 million is massive and think it would be money well spent. I used the word “massive” to describe what the renovation would entail, not its cost. I was ambiguous and probably should have used another word anyway. I usually don’t speak hyperbolically.
My point was that the mayor doesnt plan to fund the restoration.
CPA funding for historic preservation usually requires the building to be open and accessible to the public so that’s a dead in for this proposal. (CPA isn’t funding it’s restoration anyway.)
So it was offered rent free as is.
I guess I didn’s see an up side to getting none of the actual restoration done, but you have a good point and letting it just sit there until it falls down doesn’t make much sense either. I still don’t understand how these Alders would benefit by not wanting it to happen other than something about it isn’t good for Newton, but what do I know.
MGWA=
Talk to Rhanna Kidwell of the League of Womens voters….she’s the one in charge of the signature drive for the LWVN
This Library was built with citizens money in 1923, designed by James Ritchie Architect who was living at the time , just 4 blocks away in a house he designed for himself on Hancock Avenue. ( Full disclosure… I was its owner for 30 years ). He designed a number of homes around the city as well as our West Newton Courthouse and Police Station. His firm survives to this day as TRO / Jung Brannen in Boston. ( TRO stands for The Ritchie Organization ,.. A firm known for numerous hospital projects including work at Newton Wellesley Hospital ).
This Library is a JEM, very few of which remain in the city ( I wonder why ? ), and deserves to be preserved. Given the track record of building maintenance in our city, resulting in the demolition and disposal of so many school buildings under our watch, (Newton North x 2, Angier, Zervas, Cabot etc ), I’m of the opinion that this building should be Landmarked, sold into responsible ownership with appropriate deed restrictions, at its then fair market value,.. which would probably not be great given the delinquent care it has had to endure.
Sadly for the community, which could greatly benefit from its use as community activity space, like our Senior Center or The Brigham House, we will not come up with the money to afford same. We can’t/wont raise taxes, and with whatever money we are willing to part with we have to build glossy mega school houses and for the mayors portfolio, HUD funded housing.
What’s the deal? It seems that a site visit for alders that we were told was cancelled, and which I thought the press should have been invited to, happened yesterday after all.
To back up, for those of you not on the West Newton googlegroup, on Thursday THM said:
and I asked:
and a later Thursday afternoon Ted responded:
and I responded:
At first hearing the site visit was cancelled, I thought ‘was it something I said?’ Then the announcement from the mayor withdrawing the proposal, so that seemed like the reason.
Now it turns out the site visit happened after all, because Deb Crossley said this in letter to her colleagues http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/64425 that’s in the Friday Packet:
So was the site visit ever really cancelled? Was it cancelled and then un-cancelled? Which five alders went? And my original question still applies? If Real Property Reuse Committee members want to convince the public that the building is beyond the city’s capability, or MassChallenge’s willingness, to repair, why not invite the press and representatives of the pro-Mass Challenge side?
And does anyone know whether MassChallenge itself has actually looked at the interior of the building and thrown up their hands at the condition, or what?
@Julia: I don’t know any details regarding the Alder-tour but I do know that John Hawthorne of MassChallenge had seen the building and was agreeable to move in without any municipal investment. (He said as much at a meeting with Newton Center merchants in January which several aldermen also attended.)
Alderman Crossley is an architect and I fully respect her informed opinion that the building is in deplorable condition and uninhabitable. The photos she took were quite compelling.
But the fact remains, MassChallenge was OK with the building as is.
Wouldn’t the city have been liable for any damages – ie mold, not ADA compliant etc even if Mass Challenge was OK with a” Deplorable and uninhabitable building”?? Thank Goodness the BOA stood up to the Mayor – Someone needs to be the Adult in the room. It might look good on paper or in theory but I wonder why the mayor thought an uninhabitable building was a good project?
I guess only some of the Alders were invited. I had hoped to go so I could see the building for myself.
I am completely at a loss. While I do think the process was flawed in terms of community outreach, I was hoping that there would be an opportunity for the community to be engaged and learn more about MassChallenge and believe that Mass Challenge’s lease of the building for 3 years would give the community an opportunity to put together a viable plan for a more permanent community use of the building.
I also am not sure how to weigh the different opinions from Ald. Crossley, an architect, about the condition of the building vs, the recent email we received from the Building Commissioner, Josh Morse, who had a much different opinion on the building’s habitability.
Julia, a major point here is there was no need to convince the public, only the mayor. It seems to me that Joanne makes sense. Whatever MassChallenge accepted, the city owns the building and would be giving it to them rent free, as is, for three years. Just because it was a pet project of the mayor and the chamber doesn’t make it a good idea. It seems some went to a great deal of trouble to expose the deplorable conditions in the library. I hope another place can be found for MassChallenge in Newton.
According to what I read, MssChallenge had been asked about community use of the building for events or performances and said that wouldn’t be possible, but if that was an ultimate outcome and the city “found” the funding, that would have been great. In addition I took what Josh Morse said to mean that it was just habitable, meaning it was basically safe to be in, which I guess would be necessary for a site visit too. Is it unusual for the Real Property Reuse Committee to go on site visits first?
Marti- So what do you suggest? That we let this historic building go to seed? For all the talk about maintaining the character of the city, once it comes to actually doing something about it, everyone folds. Once again, we talk the talk but are unwilling to walk the walk. This isn’t anyone’s “pet project”. This is a city owned historic building in Newton Corner that we’ve neglected, had an opportunity to get significant funding to renovate, and instead we’re choosing to let it rot.
This one the BOA owns. One alder who’s an architect goes on what appears to be a bit of a rant, and the rest of them fold? Then we hear that two aldermen went on some listserv and a google group that 99.9% of the residents of the city aren’t even aware exist to complain about the project. I’m pretty attuned to city events and communications, and I’ve never heard of either this listserv or the google group. What gives them an overriding presence on any issue when 99.9% of the residents don’t even have access to the conversation? Is this really how the BOA works? This is appalling.
mgwa-I can get papers to you sign for the charter commission, and as Tom pointed out, members of the LWV do as well. Tom has done an incredible amount of work on this signature collection in the past few years and now the LWV has taken over.
I want to address just one part of this conversation: community involvement and communication.
Jane mentions listservs that aren’t used by most of the people. Technically that is correct, but this city is dotted by smaller email groups that speak only to a small segment of the population. Our elementary school has a very active listserv, but other schools don’t. I’ve seen some that are so active that following anyone part of a conversation is nearly impossible.
As far as professional journalistic outlets, we have one that covers the city with any regularity, but while the efforts are there, the staff has been cut to the bone. The Globe West Weekly section is the closest we get to something from a major newspaper, and that only covers the bigger issues.
When I moved here in the mid 90s two weekly papers showed up on my doorstep. But the days of a couple of papers reaching the majority of the population are gone.
This is a city of 85,000 people, it’s relatively substantial in that way, but modern communications means monitoring a number of different feeds. I had brunch yesterday with a bunch of journalists writing for major Boston-area outlets and one admitted that her local news comes mostly from Twitter. It’s faster and more accurate. This is an age of micofeeds and personalized interactions.
So the question here needs to be: how do we encourage our government to communicate with us, the electorate, in a way that makes sense for our modern lives? And, on the other side, how do we, as the electorate, keep ourselves involved in a personal way to hold our government accountable?
It happens that being on the listservs is commendable and great personal actions, but it’s only the start.
Jane, you are either very frustrated and over tired, haven’t read my posts or are purposely misstating my point.
At no time did I indicate or imply that I thought we should “let this historic building go to seed.” My words: “I think it would be money well spent” to restore the library completely. “Letting it sit there until it falls down doesn’t make sense …” “You (Jane) have a good point” about letting “some entity provide at least some of the funding.” “If that was the ultimate outcome (referring to Julia’s comment about complete restoration) … that would have been great.”
My suggestion is and has been that the mayor find and request the funding to completely restore the library for community use.
Instead since the mayor requested CPA funds in 2008 to study the condition of the library and make recommendations, received the report, did nothing, put together the JAPG to again study the condition of the library and make recommendations and received their report in 2012, he has requsted $0 in funding to do the restorations. In 2008, the cost of restoration was much smaller. So when you say “we had an opportunity to get the funding,” I agree, we have since the building started suffering years ago, but it wasn’t from this project because MassChallenge was only going to do cosmetic, interior work, so they had a workspace, which I guess is something. Your insistence that this would provide “significant funding to renovate” the library is simply not true. It seems that your desire for its restoration, which I share, has lead you to ignore the facts.
I certainly don’t agree with a lot of what goes on among the Alders and have posted such many times, but it’s the Mayor who has to put the funding in his budget and then actually use it that way or put together a committee to make a presentation requesting restoration funding to the CPA or elsewhere not the Alders.
I’ve been on both the West Newton listserv and the googlegroup mentioned and as you said there are so few participants they have no “overriding presence on any issue” so that bringing it into the discussion here serves no purpose other than to partially answer the question about which Alders are against the project, which was the point. They certainly have no power. Those 2 Alders post almost the exact same things on V14 and The Tab Blog. (There are many such groups that talk about the goings on in Newton, in all types of categories (parents, biking, religion, etc.)
The architects so-called “rant” included pictures and numbers, as did the reports.
Chuch Tanowitz, I agree that the electorate needs a better way to know what is happening in city government and other places in Newton. I know that with the budget cuts for papers reporters are spread thin, particularly when they are working for free ones in print or on line. It would be great if we had one that could cover all city government meetings and deliberations, without bias, to keep us informed and allow us to have more oversight, but that would mean paying out more and I don’t think that’s going to happen. I miss The Glastonbury Citizen, my former town paper, still operating, arriving on Thursdays with a complete section on everything happening in City Hall. That said I appreciate the reporters we have and citizens who try.
The Citizen is not free, just to clarify.
Another thought about the library. It was built in 1923 and put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, which makes it nationally deemed worthy of preservation so their might be tax incentives to offset expenses to restore.
Just a quick observation since it’s hard to type much on the iPhone: look how easy it is to just say “alders.” I’m liking it more and more. Board of Alders! 🙂
Julia,
And for almost a whole day now Ted has remained silent. Good on you.
Can anyone articulate an economically viable use for this building that warrants the cost of bringing it into compliance with today’s standards?
Mike, “Economically Viable Use”,.. ? If thats your criteria we should be tearing down City Hall !
The city has been sucking dollars from this building for years. It’s time to pay the piper !
Must the value of everything be reduced to dollars and cents? Isn’t there any other criteria that could or should be applied here ? Let’s try and imagine ,…
So you can’t suggest any economically viable use?
I’m sure there are many “economically viable” uses for the building. Keep in mind that we have former train stations (also historically significant) serving as restaurants, dentist offices and tool sheds, all very close to this particular property.
People have talked about turning it into a boutique hotel/ inn and offices. I’m sure a restauranteur would love it for some interesting place and maybe a dentist or medical office as well.
Being this is Newton Centre, I’m sure a salon, spa or bank could take it over too.
I don’t think that’s really the key question here. The question is: what use would most benefit that area of the city?
I just think it’s important to establish how much this property is going to cost taxpayers, and whether that expense is in keeping with our community’s priorities. Personally, given the estimated cost of bringing that building into compliance, I don’t see many scenarios where the city could [or perhaps should] keep the property. I’d certainly favor keeping the property if it didn’t cost taxpayers a fortune. But I think it’s in everyone’s interest to be crystal clear about how much it costs and who foots the bill.
Mike – The question is what’s the best use of this property. When the N’ville branch library was closed, it became the Senior Center. The A’dale and Waban branch libraries have been repurposed into places that are central to these villages. All three architectural beauties remain a significant addition to the villages and I simply don’t know how you put a price tag on that. The architecture in the city is much of what distinguishes Newton from nearby communities.
Marti – While I’m not an architect, I have a great appreciation and respect for historic buildings that represent the best of their era. I’m one of the few people who will admit that I didn’t move to Newton for the schools. I moved here for the location, and because as a child I remember driving my older sisters to Newton College of the Sacred Heart (now B.C.Law) on many Sunday afternoons, and being intrigued by the beauty of the architecture in Newton. I never missed an opportunity to drive through Newton. In addition, I’ve publicly lamented the tear downs of older and moderately priced houses, the closing of the branch libraries, and the neglect of historic public buildings. As a teacher, I’ve often taken my students on tours of City Hall, a building that has a history that should be a source of pride to every resident of this city. And now we have a BOA that can’t envision a reuse of one of the few remaining historic buildings and I think that’s a shame.
I’m not going to parse words with you. If you’re getting your information from a West Newton listserv, suffice to say, we have a different perspective. Chuck – I really appreciate that you have addressed the various listservs in the city that too often turn into platforms for getting residents to send blast emails to Alders, School Committee members, and the Mayor. Meanwhile, residents in other parts of the city are left completely in the dark. I don’t care about what lands in the Alders’ or SC members’ email boxes. Very frankly, when I was the NNHS PTSO president, I was very good at getting parents to send email blast to the Alders and SC members. It was part of the job, but it was no way to run a city then and it’s no way to run a city now.