Select Board Halts Brooks Academy Work

HARWICH – Agreeing that the restoration of historic Brooks Academy needs a better plan because work has been so chaotic, the select board put the brakes on the project until a strategic plan is established.

The decision was made last week after it became clear that there are funding issues and no systematic work schedule to avoid conflicts with the various improvements being made to the building.

The need for a plan became clear last week after facilities maintenance manager Sean Libby told the select board that he told Town Administrator Joseph Powers after last spring’s annual town meeting that the $690,000 approved for exterior work on the academy — including windows, ceilings, siding and the cupola — would not cover the cost of completing the job.

Libby said a new foundation has been installed, but a section may have to be dug out to accommodate a limited-use elevator. Libby said the elevator may have to be placed on the exterior of the building, where new siding is planned. It makes no sense to continue without a plan for the remaining work, he said.

“It makes no sense financially or timewise,” said Libby. “You’ve got to have a plan before you start.”

Since 2019, the town has approved nearly $2.6 million for B various Brooks Academy restoration projects. The select board had a number of questions about the funding and status of projects. The work on the windows and siding has not yet been placed out to bid, they were told, and the town is seeking a variance from the state Architectural Access Board regarding the need of the elevator.

Funding of $1,160,000 for Brooks Academy was removed from the fiscal 2025 capital plan along with funds in two subsequent years of the five-year plan. Select board member Donald Howell said neither his board nor the capital outlay committee voted to remove the funding. He also said there has been no communication with the Brooks Academy Museum Commission.

The select board has made it clear it plans to restore the funding for Brooks Academy in a fall town meeting if free cash is certified in a timely manner.

“I feel like we’re chasing our tails,” said Howell. “Why wouldn’t we all get together so we are traveling in the same direction at the same moment, instead of revisiting stuff? It doesn’t make any sense, it’s chaotic. It would make a lot of sense if [the project] was being pulled by the same horses in the same direction.”

Select Board member Jeffrey Handler concurred with Howell on the need for better project direction, citing the potential of having to dig up the new foundation for the elevator.

“It’s an absolute waste of money,” Handler said. “There is no question. We are not doing this right from 30,000 feet right down to the dirt. There has been no true plan to get this building up and running.”

That puts the project at a standstill, officials agreed.

While one firm did a study, there have been four architects involved with the project, Libby said, adding that one architect may not agree with the other.

Select board members agreed there needs to be a meeting involving all parties involved to sift through the different issues and get everyone on the same page.

Handler was at the Brooks Academy Museum Commission last Wednesday. He said all the entities have to come together sooner than later, suggesting a meeting would be called shortly after town meeting Members of the commission and the historical society requested representation in such sessions.

Handler said the Brooks Academy Museum Commission and the Harwich Historical Society have emphasized that they would like to be back in the building by fiscal 2026 to facilitate inquiries into the town’s history relating to the country’s 250 anniversary.

“It’s a deadline we should have looked at three years ago,” Handler said.