Selectmen Unanimous in Building New Town Hall

If something is going to be down about Town Hall, it’s going to have to be a new building according to the selectmen.

With a 5-0 vote, the board reaffirmed their commitment to constructing a new town hall on the location of the current one and will ask residents at a special town meeting later this year for permission to use $550,000 to create the final design.

The vote came after hearing from Bill Yukna who is the chair of the Permanent Municipal and School Building Committee.

“In the long run, we would benefit in building a new building that this town needs for the next 30-40 years instead of retrofitting this one,” Yukna said.

With a renovation now expected to cost almost as much as a new building according to a study from consultants Kaestle Boos,  Yukna also cited the large amount of undesirable basement space that would still exist in a renovated building as part of the reason for a new one.

Employees in the basement are now preparing for a move into the Gala Meeting Room. The move will bump selectmen meetings to the Foxboro High School Media Center and other boards to meeting places around town.

If funding for the plans are approved at the special town meeting tentatively scheduled for in late October, Yukna hopes to have an article for the funding of the building that can be approved at the annual town meeting in May. An October meeting would give the town about six months to gather bids and create a plan for a new town hall.

Currently, the date for the special town meeting has not been approved due to concerns from the advisory committee that they may not have enough time to review all the warrant articles.