Chronology of Plans Concerning the Future of the Notch Road Municipal Building
As of November 4, 2007
Item |
Date |
Description |
1 |
2000 |
Friar and Associates was hired by the Town to develop a plan for use of Municipal Facilities. In this report they recommended renovating Notch Road and constructing a 6,200 SF addition. Building would be used for general government and educational administrators. Estimated Cost was $3,825,000 |
2 |
2002 | The architectural firm of Preiss Breimeister was hired to prepare plans for the renovation of the Notch Road facility. |
3 |
June 2003 | The architectural plans are completed for Notch Road Municipal Center. Project includes renovation of all areas except the senior center plus a 3,600 SF addition. Total project size is 31,440 SF at a cost of $4,151,300. |
4 |
June 2003 | The Notch Road Municipal Center is bundled with the proposed Library addition and rejected by the voters in referendum. |
5 |
Summer 2003 | Some citizens requested that the library and the Notch Road Facility be brought back to the voters as separate referendum items allowing each project to stand on it's own merits. |
6 |
July 2003 | A decision is made to bring back the library to public referendum. Notch Road is not included in this process. |
7 |
September 30, 2003 | The library referendum fails by a vote of 541 to 692. |
8 |
late 2004 to early 2005 | A facility study committee forms to make recommendations for the future of the high school, the Notch Road Municipal Center and the existing Town Hall. |
9 |
Early 2005 | The high school subcommittee unanimously recommends a 4 to 5 million dollar project including an addition and partial renovations. A pool or auditorium addition is not part of the review. The Town Hall subcommittee recommends a conversion of the building to some type of community center. The Notch Road subcommittee is divided. Some members believe that the building has no future use as a municipal facility. Others disagree. It is decided to have two more group meetings to focus on further review of what can be done with the Notch Road building. |
10 |
2005 | The facility study group is disbanded without any additional meetings. The Selectmen have decided to pursue a different plan. |
11 |
2005-2007 | Selectmen decide to purchase Pistritto property and develop a Town Hall Campus at existing Town Hall location. To help minimize cost of land acquisition one or two building lots from the Pistritto property will be sold to the public. Also the Selectmen begin negotiations to sell Notch Road. |
12 |
November 2006 | Schoenhardt hired to study facility needs of high school and Town Hall. |
13 |
March 21, 2007 | The Town agrees at a Town Meeting to purchase the Pistritto property for $760,000. Of this amount the Town will bond $600,000. The Town can only use bond funds for the portion of the land it plans on keeping. The remaining land, which will be sold at a profit as a building lot, will be paid with municipal funds. |
14 |
June 6, 2007 | Webster Bank, offers bonds to public for sale. This includes the bond money for the Pistritto property. As part of this 35 page "Official Statement" there is a section on Principal Public Facilites. The report states that no possible major improvements are planned for Town Hall but possible major improvements are planned for Notch Road in 2007. |
15 |
June 11, 2007 | Schoenhardt issues their report. Notch Road is not included in the analysis. Two scenarios are offered for additions to the existing Town Hall. The Selectmen prefer option 1 which is a 5,755 SF renovation of the existing Town Hall and a 10,245 SF new addition. Estimated cost is $4,535,440 |
16 |
Early September 2007 | The King's School, the potential purchaser of the Notch Road Facility, announces it is closing down. |
17 |
September 17, 2007 | Republican Town Committee meets. Lengthy discussion about the future of the Notch Road Building. Though no formal motions are made, it is agreed by a majority that all options are on the table for a future Town Hall including reusing Notch Road. |
18 |
October 17, 2007 | Journal Inquirer publishes an article entitled "Few Options on table for vacant King's School in Bolton". This article states "that if the town can not find a suitable group to buy or lease the building, the most likely option will be to demolish the vacant part of the building." |