Special Town Meeting Likely For Brooks Academy Funds

HARWICH – A stakeholders group, including a subcommittee of the select board, came together this week to shape a plan for moving forward with upgrades to Brooks Academy to get the historic structure open for public use.

Additional funds will be necessary to do that, and a special town meeting is contemplated, likely in late November, to access certified free cash to help pay for the necessary work.

The major issue is the absence of compliance with public access requirements. An elevator is required to provide access to the basement and the second floor of the building, but no funding was approved for a lift.

The building, the home of the Harwich Historical Society and the Brooks Academy Museum, has been shuttered for close to 18 months while a new foundation and basement improvements were provided. The cost of improvements has driven the need to meet public access compliance.

The town planned to seek a waiver from the state Architectural Access Board to continue using the building until an elevator is installed. There were delays in filing the waiver request, but the Spencer Preservation Group has now filed an application and the town is scheduled to go before the state board on Sept. 9.

“As soon as they grant access, we’ll open it,” Town Administrator Joseph Powers said of restoring access to historical society offices and two exhibit rooms on the second floor.

But Powers made it clear that no money has been appropriated for an elevator. Facilities maintenance manager Sean Libby said there is $690,000 approved for exterior work on the building and replacement of windows. But he said it does not make sense to do that work now, because a section of the building’s siding would have to be replaced to dig down for the elevator, the cost of which was estimated at $350,000.

“My recommendation is we do it all at once,” Libby said.

Additional work needs to be done to the building. Libby said some of the electrical wiring in the structure is old and should be replaced. Harwich Historical Society member Linda Cebula said interior work to walls damaged when the new foundation was added needs to be addressed. There were issues related to placement of beams, one of which was placed in the middle of a doorway to shore up the building when the foundation work was being done.

Both Libby and Finance Committee Chair Peter Hughes said a comprehensive plan is necessary before the town moves forward with improvements.

The taxpayers need to know the cost going forward “and decide whether we want to support that or we don’t,” Hughes said.

Finance committee member Scott Norum said any changes in use should be incorporated into the plan before renovations are started.

Powers said the select board was looking at a special town meeting in late November, once free cash is certified, to secure funding. The finance director is working on the free cash numbers, and the interim treasurer/tax collector is planning to file for certification in late September, he said.

Hughes said if there is not enough money in free cash, the town might consider a debt exclusion to fund the entire project and use free cash from the next year to pay off the debt.

Select Board member Donald Howell said all the stakeholders’ wish lists should be put together to be sure everything that needs to be covered is addressed.

Libby said money for an architect to develop a comprehensive plan and a request for proposals would also have to be included in the special town meeting funding. Hughes said the group needs to put a two- to three-page scope of work together for the building.

Power recommended stakeholders get together after the Sept. 9 waiver hearing with the state Architectural Access Board to work out a plan.

If the state board approves the use of the accessible first floor, “we don’t have to do anything physically to open it,” said Libby.