Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultant outlines space‑needs assessment and public outreach plan for Dennis community center
Summary
Consultant Brian Hughes told the Dennis Recreation Commission that a space‑needs assessment — not floor plans — should define functions, square footage and an initial cost range; the commission agreed to weekly working sessions and public forums to shape the plan.
Brian Hughes, identified in the meeting as the project consultant, told the Recreation Commission that the first formal step in planning a Dennis community center is a space‑needs assessment that lists functional requirements rather than immediately producing floor plans. Hughes said the assessment will translate program needs into a square‑footage estimate and a preliminary cost range so the town can make informed choices before investing in site and floor plans.
"We don't come in and dictate that to you," Hughes said, describing the assessment as a document that captures how the community wants the building to function. He urged the commission to set clear parameters before broad public sessions so the public can meaningfully shape priorities without expecting every suggestion to be built into the final plan.
Hughes warned that municipal construction costs have risen sharply and used recent local comparators as context: committee members said Pembroke's new center worked out to roughly $700 per square foot, while Hughes said today's market can push toward $800 per square foot, affecting the trade‑offs between must‑have and nice‑to‑have features.
Commission members said they will combine the 2012 assessment, a Dolly Street document and results from a recent Wixson questionnaire with new public input. Mary Davis (speaker 7) and Select Board member Paul McCormick (speaker 8) both asked for best‑practice guidance; Hughes recommended early, advertised public forums that are controlled by the commission and come after the commission has set budget and program parameters.
As next steps, the commission agreed to begin weekly working meetings in April, target public sessions for May, circulate the 2012 materials and a town questionnaire, and have Hughes deliver a completed space‑needs assessment by the end of May for review and endorsement.
The commission did not adopt any final floor plan or budget at the meeting; members emphasized that defining needs and public consensus must come before costed designs.
