What should the public make of our building inspector’s alarming Oct. 5 letter to the BOS where he opined on the “Harvard Town Hall Envelope Assessment” by noted builder John Holland? In the September report Mr. Holland identified the extent of the rot of the existing building in the southeast corner and outlined a repair strategy. Holland’s report didn’t make the striking claim that the building could be subject to a major failure, that would endanger the occupants of the building. The inspector claims that “repairs to the Southeast corner are of the magnitude that they warrant an emergency repair and should be dealt with immediately.” Holland’s report simply noted extensive rot in an antique building and a strategy to fix it.
If employees are truly in danger, why are they still in the building? Where is the caution tape? Why hasn’t a structural engineer been brought in immediately to define a plan to stabilize the building and make it safe? Is this catastrophic structural failure a recent event, or is it just confirmation of the decades of neglect and lack of oversight of our public buildings? Is this just pre-Town Meeting hysteria to rush us into a snap decision as to how to restore/save/stabilize Town Hall or just another example that the selectmen have none of the skills necessary to manage a complex construction project like Town Hall? There are so many questions and, after a year of the BOS managing the project, precious few answers. How can the public be asked to move ahead on a project that has so much uncertainty?
Tim Clark
Bolton Road
Editor’s note: Tim Clark is a former selectman and member of the Town Hall Building Committee.
