Thirteenth – To hear and act upon the report of the committee in relation to locating and building a Town House.
Art. 13. – The Committee submitted a written report, as follows. “The Committee appointed to consider the subject of locating and building a Town House have attended to that duty and Report – That the want which has long been felt in this town of a suitable place for the public meetings of the citizens, not only for town meetings since the construction of the Court House, but for other occasions of public interest, irresitably led Yr. Committee to the conclusion, that a Town House was both desirable and essential to the prosperity of the town. The probable settlement of the Court House question in favor of the town, rendered any further delay on that account unnecessary, and your Committee unanimously concluded that it was expedient to build at once.
As to the policy of uniting in the same building a hall for the public purposes of the town and a school-room for the Centre School, the Committee with the same unanimity concluded, that good economy and regard for the interests of the whole town required that the two should be erected together, if a suitable lot for both purposes could be obtained. This brought the Committee to the question of location, and fortunately the number of eligible lots for such a building are not so very numerous, that it is difficult to decide between them.
Three lots presented advantages which were carefully weighed by the Committee before arriving at a conclusion.
The lot on the corner of the Common where the “Old Yellow Block” stands, measuring fifty-three feet front by eighty-four in depth, was considered objectionable for want of room, and exposure to fire from the proximity of other buildings, and from the fact that the school-children would be driven into the main street to find a play-ground, and in this particular would be, if possible, worse off, than at present.
The lot opposite – Mr. Prichard’s, situate on Main and Sudbury streets, and measuring about ninety feet on both, and averaging about two hundred in depth – had many advantages for both purposes, but its distance from the business part of the village, the post-office, the sheds where those who come with horses desire to leave them, and the vicinity of blacksmith’s shops and other annoyances to the quiet of a school – rendered it less desirable in the opinions of the Committee, than the one they finally selected.
This is the lot southerly of the Court House site, and between that and the street leading by the Universalist Church. It is ninety five feet front on the Square and one hundred and sixty feet deep, and as the lines are at right angles, and its location is much higher than the other lots named, besides being shaded by handsome trees, it was upon the whole thought to be far more eligible for a public building. It is large enough to afford good play-ground for the children, is situated on the most quiet and least travelled part of the Square, and the Town House upon it, by the side of a new Court House, would be more ornamental to the town than in any other location. For these reasons, and others that could be given, the Committee unanimously concluded to recommend this location if it can be obtained at a reasonable price.
As to the cost of such a building and the land, the Committee after much discussion agreed unanimously, that the present and future wants of the town would require an expenditure of at least ten thousand dollars for this purpose; this is not one cent on the dollar of the present valuation of the town, and if paid, as it should be, in ten or twenty years, the tax would not be felt by any portion of our citizens, & the increased value such a building would give to all the other property in town, would be far greater that it cost. They therefore recommend to the town the adoption of the following voted.
Voted, that it is expedient to erect the present season a Town-House and School-House on the lot southerly of the Court House site, if the same can be obtained for a reasonable price.
Voted, that a Building Committee of three be chosen at this meeting to carry the above vote into effect, and that they be authorized to borrow for that purpose, on the credit of the town, the sum of ten thousand dollars payable in ten or twenty years in equal annual installments.
By order of the Committee
Concord, April 1, 1850. F. R. Gourgas”
The above report was considered by the town and accepted by a unanimous vote, the concluding part thereof having been amended as follows - After the word “Voted,” where it first occurs, to be inserted the words – “Whereas the County Commissioners have declined the offer of the town made to them in June last of uniting with the county in erecting a Court House in which the town should be provided with a town hall, it is expedient,” etc. etc. – And in the second vote, or concluding paragraph, by enlarging the number of the Building Committee to five, and by making the money to be borrowed payable in ten years in equal annual installments.
The town then elected the following persons as their Building Committee, viz – F. R. Gourgas, John M. Cheney, Samuel Staples, Nathan Barrett and Cyrus Wheeler.
It was then Voted, to instruct the Committee to provide in such building as they should erect, a fire proof safe or vault for the records of the town; -- and also, a sufficient number of rooms for the accommodation of the various boards of town officers, including the School Committee.