Another $1.3 Million Needed To Finish Brooks Academy Work

 HARWICH – It will cost another $1.3 million to finish work on the historic Brooks Academy.

The select board Monday endorsed a work completion plan for the building to be sent to the capital outlay committee for inclusion in the capital plan. The goal is to complete the work necessary to obtain an occupancy permit for the three-story structure. Additional funding for the project is estimated at $1,300,149.

The building, constructed in 1844, has undergone considerable  phased construction work over the past couple of years, including a new foundation. That work has caused some internal damage to walls, and the need to provide an elevator to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance has stood in the way of a permanent occupancy permit for the building.

The building has been closed and the tenant, the Harwich Historical Society, has not had access to the structure for close to two years. However, a temporary occupancy permit has been issued for use of the first floor by the society next summer.

The select board appointed a subcommittee last summer to bring stakeholders together to formulate an approach to completing the work necessary to obtain a permanent occupancy permit. The group, including Select Board members Donald Howell and Jeffrey Handler, came together on Nov. 23 to develop a work statement and cost estimate to accomplish that goal. The subcommittee also included stakeholders from the Harwich Historical Society (HHS), Brooks Academy Museum Commission, and DPW Facilities Maintenance Manager Sean Libby. 

In a capital project request application submitted to the select board this week, the priority was listed as urgent.

The total estimated cost of the project is $2.3 million. There are funding sources already available for approximately half of the project. Town meeting approved $690,000 in Community Preservation Act funds, and an additional $309,851 is available through a town sinking fund (money available from the sale of town-owned land; use of the money was approved at the May town meeting specifically for the Brooks Academy project). The outstanding funding needed is $1,300,149. A $200,000 contingency fund is included in the estimate, Howell noted. 

In the subcommittee meeting, HHS President Anita Doucette said the town does not want to see the building go the way of the Exchange Building, the ornate historic structure that towered over Harwich Center until it was demolished in the mid 1960s.   

“This building means an awful lot, I believe, to this town, not only its history, but personally for those who remember the Exchange Building,” Doucette said. “I do not want this building to go the way of the Exchange Building. That’s why we’ve been so adamant on getting this building finished.” 

The society has plans “to bring this building to the center front of this town, not only historically, but in a way that not only young people will know the history of this town, but the people that move hare, people who come here from far and wide to take in what we have here in this town,” she said.

“This was the first historic registered property on Cape Cod,” Bob Nickerson told the select board on Monday night. “It’s truly a historic building. Let’s just get it done. This is a very important piece of Harwich History.”

 Howell praised the efforts of Libby, Cebula, and Brooks Academy Museum Chair Lynne Zalesak for putting the statement of work together.

 Where the additional funds would come from, Howell said, was a decision to be made by the select board. He suggested funds that did not get calculated into free cash last year and will be applied this year could be the source of funding to complete the project. 

 The town will have to hire an architect to refine the necessary work needed before a general contractor is hired to address exterior and interior renovations. Howell said the work would not begin until funding is made available, and the project could continue on into the following summer. The temporary occupancy might not be in place over the following summer, he added.