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Town Hall committee asks for $56,000 ICON study after $32 million plan deemed unaffordable
Summary
The Town Hall Building Committee presented four consolidation options and urged funding a $56,000 contract extension with ICON Architecture to study lower-cost alternatives after a previously estimated $32 million plan proved unaffordable; the Select Board will consider the study funding on March 24.
Rick Homans, chair of the Town Hall Building Committee, told the Tisbury Finance and Advisory Committee that the 17,000-square-foot “no‑frills” High Point Lane town hall previously estimated at $32,000,000 was not financially feasible after the Collins Report review. The committee proposed four alternatives — a smaller modular hall, renovating the Katharine Cornell Theatre with supplemental trailers, buying and retrofitting an existing house (the Captain Gilbert L. Smith House was discussed as an example), or taking no action and accepting mounting ADA and maintenance risks — and asked the town to fund a $56,000 extension of ICON Architecture’s contract to explore options in more detail.
Mark McKevitz of ICON Architecture told the committee that per‑square‑foot costs rise as building footprints shrink, and that substantial renovation of a residence in a historic district often requires foundational work that reduces savings to 5–8 percent compared with new construction. The Tisbury Select Board postponed a decision on the ICON contract extension until its March 24 meeting. FinCom members asked that any study explicitly model constrained price points ("what can be done for $X million or less") and include short‑term interim options — for example, renting the 8,000 sq. ft. temporary library at 15 Church St. as an ADA‑accessible interim site — so the town can weigh costs and functional needs.
The committee emphasized preserving earlier work where possible and producing options that would consolidate some municipal offices and improve workspace for staff currently in failing trailers, a crowded DPW cubbyhole, and the Katharine Cornell Theatre, which the committee described as suffering from sick‑building issues. The committee framed the requested study as a planning expenditure intended to avoid committing to a single costly project prematurely; the Select Board will consider the study funding at its March 24 meeting.
