November 13, 2024 By Carol Britton Meyer
More than 100 people were on Tuesday’s Center for Active Living Building Committee Zoom meeting for a presentation about two potential sites for the proposed new Hingham senior center — Cronin Field and Bare Cove Park.
Building Committee Chair Tom Carey commented on the “large crowd,” which he said is “not customary in our deliberations.”
Recreation Commission Chair Vicki Donlan, who also sits on the building committee, expressed opposition to the Cronin Field option, saying that she has heard similar comments from the sports community and residents.
She also noted that town counsel has been asked to weigh in on the commission’s understanding that Cronin Field falls under the category of protected recreation land. “The recreation commission believes that nothing can be built [there for that reason],” Donlan said.
Joe Nevins, who chairs the Council on Aging — which has been closely involved with the process — reported that the COA voted unanimously in August and again on the day of the meeting to support the BCP option. “Our members don’t want to seize land used as ball fields. We need [to promote an] effort that has the support of people of all ages. Pitting people who want to play ball against seniors is the last thing we want to do. We’re very much in support of the Bare Cove Park option.” (See details below.)
Carey clarified that the building committee, which is charged with conducting a feasibility study on various options, “is just fulfilling [its] charge to give a report at Town Meeting that includes options and the feasibility or infeasibility of those locations.”
Advisory role
He also emphasized that the role of the committee is an advisory and not a decision-making one. The select board and advisory committee will weigh in during the process, with Town Meeting voters having the final say. Carey also encouraged citizens to continue to attend meetings related to these proposals and to share their views.
Building committee member Beth Rouleau thanked the large number of community members who joined the Zoom meeting.
“We want this to be an information process with the opportunity for you to ask questions,” she said. “The Council on Aging has been thinking about [the need for a new, larger] senior center for more than 15 years. . . . This is a milestone that we’re now looking at two final options” after exploring others — including the senior center expanding into the current police headquarters once the department moves into the new Rte. 3A public safety facility. That option did not move forward due to parking and space limitations.
“We’re down to two sites, and I am very excited about the opportunities the one at Bare Cove Park brings,” Rouleau said.
The building committee and COA will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for Active Living on Central Street.
Carey said he expects the building committee to make a presentation to the select board in December. Details about both meetings will be posted on the town website calendar.
‘This is a real need’
Carey urged those watching the Zoom meeting “to get the message out that this is a real need the town has to address earlier rather than later in the list of its priorities,” he said. “If you think the Cronin Field site is not viable, let your views be known. . . but I hope everyone recognizes that [a new senior center] is a top need in the town.”
Three Cronin Field options were presented by Chris Wante of EDM Studio and also the BCP senior center proposal.
At the end of the lengthy discussion, the committee requested more information about the third, two-story Cronin field option, which would result in 170 rather than the roughly 200 parking spaces deemed necessary for a new senior center.
Similar to the other two Cronin Field options, the main entrance would be off Central Street rather than Burr Road — where vehicles currently enter the Town Hall parking lot.
‘Modern space for community to enjoy’
Building committee member Steven Young said the new Center for Active Living “will be a modern, safe, natural-light-filled space for the community to enjoy, and we want to do that with the most support possible.” He also encouraged further community participation in the process. The words “healthy living” apply “to all Hinghamites,” he said.
Committee member Jean Silverio called the process “eye-opening. It’s not easy to come up with two sites. The BCP one seems like the best option, but we have to provide choices.”
CFAL Director Jennifer Young monitored 30 or so Zoom comments throughout the meeting and shared some of them while promising to respond to the others soon.
They related in part to opposition to the Cronin Field option due to the shortage of baseball fields in town and whether another field would be built at another location and also the possibility of eliminating such a large amount of green space in the center of Hingham.
Young encouraged others with questions to email her at youngj@hingham-ma.gov or call (781) 741-1458.
‘There is a shortage of fields’
Carlos DaSilva said the Cronin Field option caught him by surprise. “I’m a full supporter of seniors having a [a new center] — it’s about time, but there is a shortage of fields,” he said. “Many children use Cronin Field, and many seniors walk around it.”
Mike Greeley, a Garrison Road resident, said he’s disappointed that the Cronin Field option “got this far. It’s not us versus them — not the kids versus the [seniors],” while expressing appreciation for the BCP option. “Senior centers are important [community] resources.”
Calling the Cronin Field concept “outrageous,” he referred to the fields as an “emerald necklace in the heart of Hingham.”
Greeley thanked the building committee for their efforts. “We should work together as a town to find the option that makes [the most] sense,” he said.
Wante and Doug Gallow, also of EDM Studio, presented the BCP senior center option as well, which would be located in the general vicinity of the light plant office, the park entrance, and the Bare Cove Fire Museum.
The one-story building proposal includes a patio, easy access to the front park gate, a reception area, large multi-purpose room that could accommodate 150 to 200 people at a time, restrooms, lounge, cafe counter, exercise/dance and arts studios, a fitness room, an auditorium for movies, lectures, musical entertainment and other uses, a conference room, a large room for playing cards — a popular activity — a greenhouse, and other features.
‘We expect the building to be filled every day’
Carey confirmed with Wante that these same amenities would be offered in the new center if it were to be located at Cronin Field.
“We expect the building to be filled all day every day,” Gallow said.
Carey explained that the BCP property is “governed by a number of federal agencies with a say on what can be done there.”
Wante emphasized that the renderings presented for both locations are conceptual only at this point and will be refined as the process moves forward. “These are just ideas of what the spaces could be,” he said. “There will be a whole other design phase with different options after the feasibility study is completed.”
Rouleau noted that a recent needs assessment is posted on the COA website outlining the limitations of the current CFAL space and providing a peer comparison with other South Shore senior centers. “We have the smallest and oldest space,” she said, noting that senior centers serve older residents’ families as well as seniors.
“This is an opportunity for collaboration and an exciting milestone for our community,” Rouleau said.