USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Harwich > Town annual reports of the selectmen and overseers of the poor of the town of Harwich 1956 > Part 4
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The Civil Defense Radio Net for the Town of Harwich has been very active this past year under the direction of William Williams, Radio Officer. The Town was included in all practise operations with Sector Headquarters; two new "Gonset Transmitter Receivers" were purchased on match- ing funds, and one-half will again be returned to the Town revenue. The radio net is registered with the FCC under the "Races Program" and we are able to operate four complete transmitters and receivers within the Town, relieving the load on the police and fire communications in time of emer- gency.
The Town's alert signals, operated successfully through- out the past year. The signal is tested every day except Sun- day. This year it is hoped that the sirens can be increased to receive a better coverage throughout the Town. This can be obtained by replacing obsolete and smaller sirens with larger and full directional units.
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The Alert Warning Cards were distributed throughout the Town by the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts under the direc- tion of Lester Shatzer and John Bussiere. All occupied dwel- lings should have this card posted in a conspicuous place. If you did not receive one at the time of distribution, you may obtain same from the Civil Defense Department.
The Fire and Rescue Squads have been active, holding drills and exercises in cooperation with the State Civil De- fense Department. The Police Department was active and was responsible for traffic control on the above exercises. At present, the Police Department is conducting a Police School for all special police officers in the town. The 1957 Civil Defense Budget allows for partial uniforming of these men on completion of their training.
The principal and school committee and several mem- bers of the faculty were briefed on Civil Defense Operations to date. Supplementing the work that was done with the group a year ago. It is felt now that the Principal is fully aware of his Civil Defense duties and responsibilities.
All Sector meetings and briefings were attended by your Director or by an alternate of the Town's Civil Defense or- ganization.
I wish to thank the Selectmen, all members of the Civil Defense team in Harwich, and all departments for their co- operation in 1956.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES S. HARTIG
Director
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Report of the Planning Board
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen:
During the year 1956 the Planning Board had for review and hearing the largest sub-division of land since its origin. First under the title of Hia-Pearl Corporation and later under the title of Great Sand Lakes Corporation. There has been a total of seven subdivisions requiring hearings, all of which were found satisfactory for approval. In addition twenty-five plans were considered which did not require hearings, but required review and signature of the Planning Board for filing with the Registry of Deeds in Barnstable or the Land Court in Boston. In this work we continue to receive the cooperation of Surveyors and Engineers.
The Planning Board has been represented at all called meetings of the Board of Appeals where matters affecting sub-division Rules and By-Laws were involved.
In December the Planning Board was reqeusted by a petition signed by some sixty citizens to arrange a hearing to discuss the extension of Commercial Area in Harwich Port from the present 200 feet limit, northerly from Main Street between South and Bank Streets, particularly for more parking area for current business needs and eliminating parking on the Main Street throughout this area. Meeting was called for eight o'clock the evening of December 14th at the High School Auditorium. It was a very stormy night and only about twenty people were present, so the meeting was postponed to Friday night, December 21, at eight o'clock. At this meeting only 14 people were present with no one to speak for the merchants in the area concerned, so it was suggested that nothing further could be accomplished at this time. In the call for the aforementioned meeting the Planning Board included a suggested plan for Industrial Area adjoining the New Haven Railroad and Great Western Road. An article will be included in the Town Warrant to cover this feature.
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The Planning Board is carefully studying the changes that may be necessary for the last extension of the Mid-Cape Highway with connections at Route 24 (Pleasant Lake Avenue) and also Route 137, that may require Road changes as well as extensions or relocation of Commercial and Indus- trial Areas.
The Planning Board has been represented at several meetings in various towns on the Cape for discussing Regional Planning on a Cape wide district basis, still a very live and essential matter in the minds of large groups, but the con- tinued changes in personnel of the various town planning boards has delayed bringing the matter up properly in the warrants for voting to join with other towns to form such a District.
The Planning Board appreciates the fine cooperation extended during the year by the Selectmen, Board of Appeals, and Building Inspector in helping to carry out the Rules and Regulations.
The following is a report of the Expenditures for the year: Appropriation
$200.00
Printing Legal notices of Hearings
from January 1st through
December 31st
$46.97
Administration Expense
15.72
Mass. Federation of Planning
12.50
75.19
Board dues
Unexpended balance to Revenue $124.81
Respectfully submitted,
C. W. JOHNSON, Chairman ESTHER A. STIDSTONE, Clerk R. B. SNOW ROSWELL H. NYE E. W. DYBING
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Report of the Playground and Recreation Commission
Covering a year of more than usual activity, the seventh annual report of the Harwich Playground and Recreation Commission is hereby submitted to the townspeople.
Each year there are newcomers who do not know, as well as those who forget-that the duties of the Commission are three-fold. Hence, it is repeated that the duties include the provision of facilities for recreational activities, for all peo- ple in Harwich. Secondly, new activities are initiated and financal assistance given where needed. Long-range planning for future development constitutes the third basic respons- ibility.
It is anticipated that the new baseball field, started last year as the first project in the new recreation area lying north of Brooks Park will be ready for summer use. Although the finished grading is incomplete at this date, irrigation lines have been installed and the first seeding done. This field has been designed for Little Leaguers and others in that age group.
As the next step in further development of the area, tentative plans for an ARCHERY FIELD are under consider_ ation. There has been a steadily growing demand for this popular all-family sport. The Commission is open to sug- gestions for future planning and wishes to provide space for the recreational needs of the community. A total of 56 children were enrolled in the four week session of our Sum- mer Play School. Under the supervision of Barbara Ford and assisted by Maureen Denny, sports activity, reading and a comprehensive arts and crafts program were scheduled daily. The Theatre Workshop for the older group met daily for a ten weeks period covering the construction and painting of scenery and various other back-stage techniques. With ever increasing popularity, our athletic program, conducted by Dave Bailey enrolled 151 in Swimming Classes; 73 in base- ball; 64 in tennis and 22 in golf. A total of 87 certificates were awarded in the various swimming groups. To teach diving skills, a dock or raft is needed, also a canoe or boat for added skills in Life Saving.
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Many and varied activities as well as Arts and Crafts classes are crowding the Recreation Building day and night -limited only by the lack of suitable housing space. Since the building was used in 1956 by a total of 10,825 people, en- gaged in more than 130 regular group activities, the need for a large all purpose room is both obvious and definitely indi- cated. With additional space, not only could the larger groups be accommodated, but game room equipment could be set up for continuous use.
The old kitchen space has undergone a face-lifting pro- cess resulting in improved facilities and an attractive working area for food-service. However, the Commission has been unable to provide dishes, flatware and other equipment . . . and will therefore be very happy to accept suitable gifts or permanent loan of the many needed items.
Our outstanding community project, the HARWICH JUN- IOR THEATRE, sponsored by the Recreation Council, is in need of a well-equipped permanent home. Our good town- fathers have been most cooperative and for six seasons (6th- 1957) have housed our self-supporting, non-profit "Theatre Unique", in the Exchange Playhouse. Offering the family- public the best in Children's Classics-its continued successes have proved an asset which Harwich can point to with pride.
FOREST A. EATON, Chairman EARLE BASSETT RAYMOND H. GRAYSON, Legal Advisor VIRGINIA S. DOANE, Treasurer ALICE CHAMPION MORRIS, Secretary
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Report on Article 75 of the 1956 Town Meeting
To the Citizens of the Town of Harwich:
Report to the people of the Town of Harwich made by nine men appointed under Article 75 of the 1956 Town Meet- ing, which covers the nineteen existing buildings in the Town, which the Town owns and must maintain yearly.
We as a Board have spent a great deal of time surveying and discussing with factual reports what is the best possible solution with every building now owned and operated by the Town. In this report, we are trying to support our judg- ment by facts and figures, which we discovered while in- vestigating the Municipal Properties. As far as it was pos- sible the Committee tried to look at each building, not only for today's use or even tomorrow, but for as long a range program as is possible for anyone to formulate at this time. We tried to look at each situation individually and not only the immediate cost, but also the cost to the Town over a period of a minimum of ten years.
The Building Committee felt that with present buildings, where the cost of maintenance would in a period of ten years exceed the cost of a new and more feasible building that, it would be poor judgment to spend money on the present structure.
In this report we will handle each building separately and will deal with the smaller buildings first.
We can handle the Band Stand, Brooks Park Storage (which is a new building) the Oil Tank, and the Comfort Station, which is at Bank Street Beach, as these are at pres- ent in excellent condition and will be suitable to the Town in their present form for a great many years to come, even with the increased growth that our Town has shown.
Before we get into the large and more used buildings, we think there is one thing that each individual should understand and that is the problem that confronts not only
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all small towns in the country, but all small and large busi- nesses throughout the country, and that is the growth of our population from Maine to California (including Cape Cod), which has been nothing short of phenomenal and this growth will continue very rapidly for the next ten years. This has resulted in all buildings, not only for municipal use, but for private use bulging at the seams and at the same time out- moded.
It is very, very costly to add new construction for either private or municipal business in these times of high costs. However, town business, as well as private business must operate efficiently and to do so it must have equipment in which it can operate efficiently.
The next building that we would like to talk about is the Fire Station. After some inspection and discussion we came to the decision that no additional spending on their present fire station will be necessary-that a better and broader solution should be found for this Department than increasing its present building.
The new Highway Building is a very good and very ade- quate building. The time will come when as the Town's miles of roads increase that the Highway Department will need an additional stall. It is hard to foresee this at present, as we cannot visualize the increase in roads. At the same time that this additional stall is built we feel that it is the time to add another stall for the Moth Superintendent and add his quarters into the same building, which would lessen the cost of maintenance. It is felt that the Moth Superintend- ent's building is of no value whatsoever to the Town and that no additional money should be spent on this building under any circumstances, as it is worth no additional ex- penditures.
In this same group we will add the Police Garage which is used by the Highway Department for storing some of their equipment. This building is in excellent condition and will last for a great many years and is worth maintaining.
Brooks Block Bulding is in fine condition, has a good revenue and serves many useful purposes for the Town. It certainly is worth keeping and maintaining. The only thing we would like to add is that in the future there probably will be a need for a new Library due to the steep climb in stairs for older people, the shortage of rooms and the need for area in which to display the statue collection.
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The present Water Department Buildings are in fine shape, are well kept up and will serve the Town for years to come. It is our opinion that at the present time there is no need for any large building program. We do feel that more office space is needed, but this can be overcome by moving the meter testing equipment and storage racks to the garage, and using the space thus obtained for the Superin- tendent's Office. This would mean building two or three more stalls at the present garage within the next two or three years at a cost of about $6,000.00 and unless the system expands faster than we have been able to foresee, this should solve the Water Department Building problems for the next ten or twelve years. The Town Office is in excellent condi- tion and has sufficient amount of work space to handle the needs of the Town. It would be desirable to have more park- ing area.
At this time it is impossible to make a report on the School Buildings. This Committee has looked into the School program as much as possible, and have met jointly with the School Committee, but as they have many problems to face and the State to contend with, as to regulations, it is im- possible to make any clear cut recommendations at the present time.
We have left to the last the two buildings, on which we have spent the most time, as we felt these were the immediate problems the Town was facing. The Police Station is an old building with poor and unsound construction. Work would have to be done to the building if it is to be kept. Cells are needed to be added, and it was the general opinion of this Board that the cost to repair and add to this building would be greater than the cost of a new building. We, therefore, feel that a new Police Station should be built at one end of a Town Municipal Auditorium. After much deliberation, it was decided by the Board that a new Municipal Auditorium should be constructed for the use of the School Department and for the people in the Town. We felt the building should be able to seat about 1500 people at athletic affairs and 2000 people at Town Meetings, Plays, etc. This would give the Town sufficient use for twenty years growth period.
In the next few paragraphs we would like to tell you why we feel the need for such a Building and our recom- mendation to the use of the Exchange Building. First, we would like to publish in full the Builder's report on the Ex- change Hall.
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BUILDER'S REPORT
In submitting this report on the Exchange Building in Harwich we will follow the three main points you asked us to cover:
1. What we thought should be done with the building.
2. Cost of putting building in shape for this purpose.
3. Cost of maintenance over the years.
We covered the building very carefully and concluded that it was in reasonably sound shape and could probably be a useful asset to the community in many respects.
It is our opinion that the building should be restored gen- erally to its original character-not immaculately restored- but in a sound and substantial manner with adequate facil- ities and contemporary utilities. We use the word restore rather than renovate as we believe any work done should maintain the character of the building. This restoration need not be 100%. Rather than give the impression of a new 1890 type building, the keynote would be: "This is an 1890 building, and although the floor is loping in places and some plaster patched, we like it and keep it painted and 'trim because it is sound, useful and our kinfolks built it for us."
This building has a definite character from another era such as the Provincetown and Brewster Town Halls. We are in a resort economy and on the Cape we need such buildings to show the visitors that we are the old Yankee type com- munity. The modern supermarkets are fine conveniences but an evening at the theatre in the auditorium of this building will give them a taste of 1890 theatre atmosphere they will remember for years. The same could be true of various other activities held in the third floor exhibition hall.
There is also the historical and sentimental background of this building to the town and its residents. It has been active in the town's activities and economic life for gener- ations and is an important tie and reminder of the past.
Our idea would be to keep the building as active as pos- sible. The first floor could be more active commercially: the Auditorium and top floor would be much more in demand after the restoration. The uses of the building might be as follows:
Basement-Boiler Room
Shooting Gallery Storage: Town use or rent out Rent to stores above
One or two small meeting rooms West Side.
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First Floor-East Store-Hardware West Store-Grocery Five back rooms: Minor town offices 2 stores on Pleasant Lake Road
5 offices-one with vault
Second Floor-Auditorium-dances, etc. Theatre Exhibition Hall
Third Floor-Exhibition Hall
Scout meetings, etc. Community group meetings
This is what we feel should be done with the building. Next comes the question of what shall we do about specific items and the cost of putting the building into shape. The following outline will give you the idea of what we have in mind and we believe the figures are broad enough to cover the scope of the work. To know what the costs would be more accurately would necessitate plans and specifications, but for this purpose round figures will do.
STRUCTURAL FRAME
Work on sections of the foundation should be done to insure a secure footing for the walls above. This means re- moving, and replacing with concrete, sections along the top of the foundation. A certain amount of shoring and jacking of the building will be necessary to foot the building securely as well as to level up the frame where it has settled. Loose and cracked beams need supporting and tightening up in places. Various openings in the building will require some additional structural support. These items should bring the structural frame into useable shape.
We are of the opinion that the wood frame fire escape could be brought into repair and made useable if it is not in violation of fire laws. It would be less expensive to fix it over than to demolish it and erect a steel fire escape in its place. Either one of the two, however, must be done to al- low use of the third floor.
By providing additional support to the second floor the existing "bounce" can be removed. Support would consist of a new column line located in the center of the two exist- ing stores and carried through to the basement.
The balcony and boxes as they exist can be brought back into use by fixing and tightening up the structural supports holding them.
It seems advisable to retain the vault and repair and waterproof it, thus making it an asset to available office space.
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EXTERIOR
The extent of work on the exterior of the building amounts to replacing and repointing sections of the brick- work in chimney and lower walls at foundation line. Re- storation and repair of exterior trim is necessary and would include scraping, reflashing completely, caulking and paint- ing. Gutters and conductors must be replaced. Windows and window frames require repair and in some cases replacement.
The entrance porch on the front of the building needs general repairs, caulking and flashing.
The entire outside of the building should be scraped down and painted to insure long life of the exterior side- walls.
The cupola is in fairly good shape and needs only to be spruced up on the exterior trim and sash.
INTERIOR
The basement at the present time is in good shape and will require little work. Specifically it needs a good cleaning up and a fireproof boiler room. If the shooting range is to be used it will require fireproofing.
The first floor needs a general brightening up which in- cludes patching of walls and ceilings and painting through- out. Woodwork is in good shape and needs only some scrap- ing and paint. Stairway to second floor also needs brighten- ing up.
The second floor also requires general repairs of plaster walls and ceilings as well as painting throughout. Woodwork is in good condition but requires repairs and refinishing in places.
As was mentioned earlier work is necessary to strength- en the balcony and boxes.
Also, fire doors and all exits should be brought within the code for public safety. Fireproofing of the wall between stage and hall should be completed.
It is recommended that additional toilet facilities be provided. Larger men's and women's rooms are needed on the second floor. Dressing rooms can be provided at the East and West sides of the backstage area. A double-deck dressing area on each side, one side for women, one for men, might be advisable. Toilet facilities should also be provided for these dressing rooms.
In line with heating the building it will be well to in- sulate the ceiling above the second floor level to reduce the majority of heat loss.
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Work on the interior of the third floor need not be too extensive. The floor should be patched where needed, sand- ed and finished. The wall sheathing and trim need some repair as does the observation deck above. Ticket offices, lobby and stairways need general repair. In keeping with the present character of this floor it should remain un- painted.
New exits and a steel fire-escape on the Southeast cor- ner should be provided in addition to the one required at the rear of the building.
UTILITIES
Certain utilities are necessary in making the building functional. At present the electrical service for the majority of the building is in excellent shape, having been installed only recently. In addition, the building is thoroughly out- fitted with a very competent sprinkler system. The invest- ment in these two utilities alone is good reason to consider remodeling of the rest of the utilities in making the build- ing useful.
Electrical service is needed for the third floor as well as more efficient lighting for all floors. Although service is adequate lighting fixtures are much in need.
Plumbing facilities should be broadened to provide hot and cold running water to rest rooms and dressing rooms. In line with this a system of adequate sewage disposal should be installed. In addition to toilets on the second floor there should also be toilets installed for use of first floor tenants.
Heating of the first and second floors will be necessary to make practical use of the building. Heating could also be supplied to third floor in the future if need be. A zoned system would allow heating only of areas in use and hence not require heating of the entire building all of the time.
We have broken down the costs of the various phases of the work and summed them up as follows :-
1. Structural Frame
$11,800.00
2. Exterior Shell
14,100.00
3. Interior:
Basement
$1,300.00
1st Floor
2,500.00
2nd Floor
14,100.00
3rd Floor
7,000.00
24,900.00
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4. Utilities
16,700.00
$67,500.00
10%
6,750.00
$74,250.00
These cost allowances would be adequate to cover the work as generally outlined. It would be well to have $80,000.00 on hand at the start of the project. It is our feel- ing that care would have to be taken in the layout and de- tailing of the work in order not to run wild. Our basic prem- ise is a simple, sound restoration and it must be borne in mind throughout the layout of the work.
Cost-wise it is interesting that this building has approx- imately 18,000 square feet of major floor area and that an expenditure of $80,000 represents spending an approximate $4.50 per square foot. A new building, even the minimum type of construction, will cost at least $10.00 per square foot plus the land and site work.
The cost of maintenance of the building should be treated as two separate items; the operating overhead and long term maintenance.
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