Energetic Reynolds Favors Arts Overlay for East Dedham, New Inter-generational Center

The always energetic and optimistic Paul Reynolds will vie next month for another three-year term on Dedham’s Board of Selectmen with the goal of “reviving East Dedham” in his next term.

Reynolds wants to create an arts and culture overlay district in East Dedham in order to help build the economy in the area and be ready for when artists flee southern Boston neighborhoods due to increasing rent and gentrification, he said.

Reynolds sits on the newly formed – or demolition – for the current once students move to their new location on Pottery Lane.

The selectman opposes demolition, and sees the building – whatever it will house – as the anchor into East Dedham.

“We spent decades in this town in tear-down mode. If a building finished its use, then we thought the building was finished,” he said. “I think it is a tragedy that we lost so much architecture.”

Reynolds could foresee it housing artist studios with retail space on the first level.

“It may not be appropriate for kids, but it may be for an arts center. There is performance space in there. It could be co-op non-profit office space.”

If East Dedham becomes an arts district, and is complete with coffee shops and small art galleries, then Reynolds says fitting Avery into that makes sense.

“Having an anchor performance space is better than cool,” he said.

Bringing in new businesses to come into Dedham could take some legwork – and a hard look at the commercial tax rate.

In December, , up from 25 percent the year before he took office. Reynolds said at the December meeting, and re-iterated in a recent interview, that increasing that rate isn’t a tenable situation for small business owners. He is a co-owner of The Blue Bunny.

“We have to be extremely careful about how we progress,” Reynolds said. “Obviously we need revenues and resources to provide services to keep up with the increasing expenses and costs of doing business. If we can find ways to minimize that burden, that’s what we need.”

Reynolds said he believed the town was in a stable place right now and residents and business owners might not see an increase down the road.

“We’ve seen decreases in state support, we’ve seen decreases in [excise] tax base, which is normal in a recession. Given all of those components, I think we are in a stable place,” he said. “The good news is we have a lot of debt rolling off.”

Many credit Dedham’s ability to maintain services during the Great Recession to the amount of new growth with the addition of .

But it is work to make sure the outdoor mall doesn’t take away from small businesses, the selectman said.

Reynolds, 49, who was first elected to the top committee in 2008, will closely watch . He said he would work with Dedham economic development director Karen O’Connell to make sure the Square doesn’t suffer.

Keeping the economic balance between and Dedham Square is a top priority.

“Losing an anchor like would be a huge blow,” Reynolds said.

When Showcase Cinemas opened keeping the art house theater open was a concern.

“As long as Dedham Community Theatre can get its product, then I think we are O.K.,” he said.

Besides updating Dedham Square, the town is looking to replace aging and falling public safety buildings, find a and make the library system more viable.

The town’s next building project is the talk of the selectmen’s election – both what and, more importantly, where and when – the town should fund next.

Since the inception of the , a grassroots group founded by Reynolds late last year to better the town’s library system, the selectman has called for an inter-generational facility geared toward “community learning.”

Reynolds’s crystal ball pictures one campus that combines the functions of a library – both the book sand the classes – with a senior center, and possibly a youth center.

Reynolds has pointed to what he sees as the successes of the and their inter-generational programs with senior citizens living at.

“My fantasy is we are sipping cappuccinos at the Endicott Community Information Center. We would walk through the gardens to the senior center and get tomatoes from the gardens,” Reynolds said.