No one in Wayland, it seems, is indifferent to the beauty of the library at 5 Concord Road. Perfectly sited in the historic center of town, the building is instantly recognizable for its graceful rotunda, terra-cotta tile roof, and blankets of ivy. Unfortunately, the architecture cannot override the site’s inability to accommodate the library’s needed expansion.
On July 13, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners awarded Wayland a Provisional Construction Grant of $10,137,980, about 40 percent of the projected construction cost for a new library. Wayland’s Library Trustees propose to locate the new library at 195 Main Street, next to Wayland Middle School — a site that allows a building commensurate with the town’s needs. Residents will vote on the appropriation of the remaining construction funds at an upcoming Town Meeting.
The Trustees, along with many others, would like 5 Concord Road to remain a public gathering place. Moving the library would give us all an exciting opportunity to reflect on other unmet needs within the town, and consider how 5 Concord Road might meet them. The Library Planning Committee (LPC) has heard some proposals, including a cultural center (perhaps akin to Concord’s Umbrella Community Arts Center) and a museum of local history under the auspices of the Wayland Historical Society. Now we’d like to hear yours. What would you like to see in this beloved building? What needs do you feel are not being met? How might this function take shape at 5 Concord Road? Could this new facility help to make Wayland a more desirable community for both current and prospective residents?
All are invited to a community forum with the Trustees and members of the LPC at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 19, in the Large Hearing Room, Town Building, to share ideas on how 5 Concord Road, built at the turn of the twentieth century (1900), can help Wayland continue to thrive in the twenty-first.
This building would be perfect for a community center!
The re-use of 5 Concord Road is limited by the public charitable trust created by the estate of Warren Roby. The town would have to have that trust overturned by Probate Court, and the outcome is unknown. It is premature to home public meetings about the reuse of the facility until the town learns if any re-use is possible.
I would like to see the town expand the current building by connecting with the sewer at the new Town Center and using the leaching field as the footing for that addition. This would enable the town to keep the historic building as a library (as designated in by the Roby trust) and gain considerably more space. While this may not be as large as the proposed new building, it would certainly be more affordable and, ideally, reduce the tax burden on the town home-owners.
Given the $10 MM state grant, the town would have to put up additionally $19 MM to build the new library, which would obliterate our Moody Aaa bond rating, escalating borrowing costs far into the future. That would not be a prudent course of action for the town to undertake.
What is wrong with the new and modern library in the high school? It can possibly be expanded to meet the needs of the proposed library. Besides, the current library-site cannot easily be converted to something else as per its charter. Thus, if the town makes the move this beautiful historic building will sit there and rot, a eye-sore for everyone. Then there is tax burden on already a very high tax rate for this town.
I propose that we explore the possibility of expanding the current (get more parking space from the adjacent Freight House, upgrade the sewer system). I will be a fraction of the proposed cost of the new library.
Regarding a community center: I propose that the town explore the possibility of expanding the current facility (housing offices, Senior Center etc.). The cost will be significantly less than building a new facility.
In these days and times physical space required for a library is actually shrinking due to electronic storage. Proposing a new library risking a significant tax hike, probable loss of AAA rating, uncertainty about the future of the current library seems to be a oxymoron!
I love our graceful, beautiful and historic Wayland library and do not want to see it used as anything but our main library. The flooding has been fixed to the 25-year flood level and more can be done. Please do not burden us with a downgrade in AAA bond rating while taking away one of Wayland’s most beautiful iconic buildings.
The proposed 33k sq foor new library is all glass and the site was the former DPW burning dump. It is too big for Wayland and totally out of character.