Boyden Library - What's It All Worth?

How much is your time worth?  How much is your vote worth?  How much is your money worth? 

If you are reading this, you are likely one of the many people who made an effort to get to the polls and vote your approval of the Boyden Library Expansion project.  You might have attended one of the many community presentations by Boyden Trustees, explaining the project.  Most likely, you are one of the many people who took the time to go to town meeting and again vote your approval for the project.  Maybe you had to pay a babysitter.  At Town Meeting, you and your fellow attendees voted overwhelmingly to spend your tax dollars on an addition to our library.  Undoubtedly, you had many other things to do, but you feel that the library is important, so you made the effort.    

Late in the process, Baker Street residents (some of whom did not even attend town meeting) have decided they don’t like this project.  Their many and various suggestions include demolishing the current library, or eliminating all on-site parking.  Some want a colonial or Victorian style addition.  Others want more glass, and expensive exterior materials well beyond the means of a small town like Foxboro.  Still others don’t know what they want, they just want something different.  They also want to design the building in conjunction with the architect.  Oh, and by the way, if they can’t design the building, their lawyer is going to file a lawsuit to halt the project. 

Ending this project means the town loses the $3.4 million grant that drove the process, substantial lease commitments, and the $500,000 that has already been invested to date.  While project opponents term these expenditures “small potatoes,” those of us working on the expansion disagree.  Additionally, if this project fails, the current library will require several million dollars (with no state grant) to simply maintain it as a functional space.  And given that this project has been at least a decade in the making, a restart of the expansion effort is unlikely in our lifetimes.  Does that sound like small potatoes to you?

So how much are your time, vote and money worth?   Baker Street residents apparently don’t think they’re worth much.