Thank you to all the community members who attended the initial public outreach meeting that took place on September 26th. In addition to having an opportunity to meet with Bellwether Architects (BA), the architects of the new Community Center, there was a lively and productive question and answer session. In addition to oral feedback, any written responses to questions provided by BA about the design, layout and the community’s aspirations for the new building were received. The building committee has read all of these responses and heard the community’s concerns that the building be cost efficient, energy efficient, and that it should have historically appropriate architecture. They also heard comments that it should be filled with natural light, should maximize advantages of the site, and should be “inspirational.”
Since this first public outreach meeting, BA has presented three potential building configurations to the committee: a one-story (Town Offices, Library and Community Space all on one level), a two-story (with the functions separated by stairs and an elevator) and a one-story with a walk out lower level (essentially the same as a two-story but the lower level is mostly below grade). The committee has considered the community’s input carefully while evaluating these three conceptual plans.
In terms of one-story plan, there was general agreement about the benefits of having all town activities on one level. However, the significant disadvantage of this plan is that the building footprint is very large. When viewed from the street it appears very wide and architecturally inconsistent with the smaller, more residential structures on the Ridge. It also blocks much of the view of the mountains. In addition, the large building envelope is less energy-efficient and would likely be more expensive to build than a more compact plan.
The advantages of a two-story plan (either two-story above grade or one-story with a walk out lower level below grade) are that the building envelope is more compact and the scale of the building is more historically appropriate and consistent with the town’s architecture. In particular, the one-story plan with the walk out lower level takes the greatest advantage of the site and will likely provide the most cost-efficient layout. The disadvantages of both these plans are that there is a separation among the town functions and they both require an elevator and stairway.
The committee discussed the pros and cons of the three options at length. Ultimately there was a general consensus that the one-story plan with the walk-out lower level most optimized the criteria for the new building. The disadvantages of having a stair and elevator, and separated uses, were outweighed by the advantages of potentially being less expensive, historically appropriate in scale, and taking the most advantage of the site.
The committee has directed BA to focus their efforts on this approach. BA will study multiple configurations of the three main components—Town Offices, Library and a Community Gathering Space–and will also incorporate exterior gathering space(s) into the design plans. The committee also instructed BA to set the structure back from the road to take advantage of the site contours and to locate parking North of the building.
Since there may not be majority support among voters for all of the program components, the committee recommended that BA consider design solutions that are flexible enough to allow for construction to be completed in phases, in case that approach appears to be warranted.
Please join us at the next public outreach meeting on Tuesday, November 19th at the Monkton Central School at 6:00 pm to review and discuss the conceptual designs that are being developed. Help create a shared vision of what this new facility can be–a Community Building For Building Community!