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05/28/2024 12:12 PMReviews of potential sites for a new community center are soon to get underway after the ad hoc Community Center Committee recommended the town contract with a consultant for a feasibility study.
The committee made the recommendation at the May 14 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, and the town attorney is now considering the contract while the committee develops a spending request for the BOS.
In March, the BOS voted to send out a request for proposal (RFP) for a firm to conduct a feasibility study on potential sites for a community center in Westbrook, a longtime consideration for town residents.
At the May 14 BOS meeting ad hoc committee member Karl Heilmann said that three firms were interviewed in response to the RFP. Heilmann said the committee recommended utilizing CHA Consulting at a cost of $167,900.
The cost may be a bit of a hangup for the BOS. Currently there is $125,000 budgeted for the proposal. The BOS voted to have the town attorney review the potential contract and asked the ad hoc committee to come up with a formal request for additional funding which the BOS can consider at a future meeting.
Per the RFP, “the feasibility study would provide focus and definition for activities, size, scope, location, and cost for a community facility.” The RFP also asks the selected firm to conduct two community information sessions, one early in the process and one later.
At a BOS meeting in January, a representative from the ad hoc committee said that the group is looking at three potential sites for the center. One site is Wren Park, near Daisy Elementary School and the library. The second site is on undeveloped land behind the middle and high schools. The third potential site is the National Guard Armory on Brookside Avenue.
In order to save money on the consultant, Board of Finance Chairman Paul Winch asked Heilmann to consider if all three locations are viable or if the constating firm could only consider two of the potential locations.
Interest in building a community center in Westbrook is an initiative that goes back nearly 15 years. In 2011, the consulting engineering firm Woodard & Curran recommended using basement space in the Westbrook Public Library as an interim center, but that never happened. Interest was reinvigorated a couple of years ago when some residents again began to clamor for more space for recreational activities like pickleball.
In 2021, an online survey for Westbrook residents designed to gauge interest in a town community center received more than 280 responses within 24 hours of being live. In total, 714 people filled out the survey, with a majority in favor of the town building one.
In December 2022, the BOS appointed a new ad hoc committee tasked with considering possible locations around town for a community center and potential costs to build and operate it.