Charlie Breitrose
The East Branch Library could be sold to the neighboring St. James Armenian Church.
The long vacant East Branch Library may be sold by the town, if the Town Council approves the proposal on Tuesday night.
The 2,684-square-foot building at 481 Mt. Auburn Street was built in the 1920s and closed in 2006 after the main branch of the library was renovated and expanded. Now the town is considering selling the building and .28 acres of land to St. James Armenian Church for $1.2 million.
The town put out a call for bids, which had to start at $1 million, and received just one bid. According to a memo to the Town Council from Town Manger Michael Driscoll, the former library will “in the long run, be integrated into the neighboring St. James property.”
A facilities study done in 2007 found that the cost of renovating the building so it could be used would be about $1.4 million. There is no parking on the property.
Town and church officials have been working out an agreement for the use of the land, and Driscoll said it would not be able to be used for parking and will limit “non-church uses.”
The Town Council must approve the sale of the town property. The Council will meet on Tuesday, April 11 at 7:15 p.m. in Town Hall, 149 Main St., Watertown.
Town Council…get this done. St James is not only a logical choice but the best choice for this property.
“The town put out a call for bids, which had to start at $1 million, and received just one bid.”
Until a binding purchase agreement is signed, shouldn’t this have remained confidential? If I’m St. James, the price just went down $200k.
Hi Merkin. The minimum bid was announced out before the bids were made.
Understood, Charlie. But they’ve revealed they only received the one bid prior to inking St. James to a binding contract.
Will the beautiful and unique building be saved? It has always given character to that part of Mt Auburn Street and town.
Barbara, I believe there is no requirement to keep the building
Hi Barbara,
During the discussion back in September 2016, I had made a motion to include
language in the RFP to prohibit the demolition of the East Branch Library. At the time, the motion did not pass as all 8 other councilors were opposed to this restriction based on the feeling that it decreased the value of the property to a potential buyer.
http://www.ci.watertown.ma.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3408
Best,
Michael Dattoli
617-999-5333
Michael Dattoli,
In your 8/15/15 letter to the editor regarding reuse of branch libraries, you said, “there are many options for funding streams available, such as grants, businesses, fundraising, and local capital improvement funds.”
http://www.watertownmanews.com/2015/08/15/letter-council-candidates-ideas-for-unused-branch-libraries/
So how much of that plentiful money did you and your friends raise through grants or fundraisers, in the year or two since your election, to save our branch libraries? I’m guessing zero..
i think there deed restrictions in place – i remember protesting closing the library when i was a kid – at least 30 years ago. so they needed to keep it a library, just for god sakes no more condos