A project 17 years in the making, the Pembroke Community Center project is now moving forward.
Voters at Tuesday’s Special Town Meeting breezed through the warrant, and approved $3 million in additional funding for the project.
A near-unanimous vote was reached in the auditorium with about 410 voters, and one dissenting vote was cast in the cafeteria at Pembroke High School.
Andrew Sullivan is the Chair of the Community Center Task Force. He says this will be a focal point in town.
The project is expected to cost $22 million, the majority of funding was approved at the 2021 Town Meeting.
It includes a gymnasium, walking track, kitchen space, senior lounge, and multi-program rooms. The facility can also be used as an emergency shelter.
Rising construction costs, and more asbestos remediation is required at the site, which led to the gap in funding. Federal and state funds could defray the cost to taxpayers.
Kathleen Keegan is the Chair of Pembroke Celebrates and the Pembroke Tree Lighting.
For Select Board Chair Dan Trabucco, it’s been 17 years and numerous committees he’s been a part of.
Abatement is expected to start in November, construction in February, with a March 2024 completion date. G & R Construction of Hanover will oversee the project.
The building will house the Council on Aging and Recreation Department.
Select Board member John Brown says he’s happy voters approved the project.
Council on Aging Director, Gretchen Emmetts, has done tremendous work in the current building, but they’ve run out of space.
They administered 800 COVID-19 vaccinations, and she told the meeting they could have tripled that. In late October of 2021, the staff at the COA was hard at work cooking meals for residents, while much of the region was without power due to a Nor’easter.
The Special Town Meeting was completed in about an hour, with voters approving $4.5 million in capital projects, a well and pumping station on the Swanberg Well Site for $4.5 million, and Community Preservation projects.
Article 8, the transfer of land at 754 Washington Street, was the only article not approved at the meeting.
The Pembroke Town Meeting concluded in one night.
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- An overflow room in the cafeteria for Special Town Meeting. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
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- The Pembroke Community Center on July 28, 2022. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
