Wednesday, April 3, 2013
We respectfully ask your suppot for Article 3 at the Special Town Meeting on Apr. 8.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 3
As former members of the Town of Dedham Board of Selectmen, we often disagreed with one another on policies, procedures and priorities for the Town. Indeed, our collective representation of he residents of Dedham literally spans decades. With respect to Article 3 on the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting on Apr. 8, we have coalesced on this issue and collectively urge and encourage Town Meeting to SUPPORT Article 3 and direct the Town of Dedham to site a Senior Center on the grounds of the Endicott Estate. Many groups have studied this issue for the past 30+ years, yet nothing tangible has come to fruition. The time for our Senior Citizens is NOW and we collectively believe that Article 3 is the proper vehicle to bring this issue …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
After an intense debate Monday night, Article 7 was approved after a vote of 108-103.
The location of a new senior center has been an issue in Dedham for almost 30 years. And Monday night's debate was a clear indicator that a lot of residents are losing their patience. "I'm embarrassed that we didn't [approve the senior center], after all this time," resident Robert Chaffee said. "The process is underway lets not make our seniors wait any longer." But one of the main issues for many residents was the "lack of community involvement" in the process of the project. Many said they believed that a location should have been decided after a Town Hall Meeting, not before. Article 7 will create a Senior Center Site Committee, which will allow Dedham residents to be involved with the planning process. According to the article, the …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
"We think the proposals failed because they were never developed by and “owned” by the Town as a whole."
Dear Editor, Over the years the Council on Aging and allied groups have tried a number of times to site a Senior Center for Dedham. Their approach was simple: a small COA-run group of interested people would come up with a proposal that they thought made sense and they would try to convince Town Meeting or the voters to approve it. But their proposals failed. And that wasn’t because Dedham voters or Town Meeting members are anti-senior. We think the proposals failed because they were never developed by and “owned” by the Town as a whole. However hard the small COA-oriented groups worked, they could not include enough of the other varied interests and people that live in Dedham to develop Town-wide majority support for any location. The …
Friday, August 10, 2012
Where in Dedham would you like it be built?
This question has been an issue here in Dedham for many years, and nothing has been done. But if you were given the choice, where would you like to see it built? Leave your comments below!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The best solution as to where to locate the town's Senior Center and how to fund it may be from a broad-based committee.
- NEWS
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
In June, a group of concerned Dedham citizens met with the Board of Selectmen to voice our concerns about the process used to determine whether or not to build a Senior Center on the grounds of the historic Endicott Estate. We feel strongly that Dedham needs a Senior Center but the process to create a Senior Center should be addressed in a transparent and public process. Committees have been organized in the past to research and recommend to the Town, proposals for the siting of and funding for a Senior Center. Unfortunately, none of these committees has been successful in convincing the town residents of the merits of their proposals. One of the reasons there has not been town-wide support for any of the past proposals is that the …
Friday, July 20, 2012
Group says beyond the loss of invaluable park land, the development of the grounds of the Endicott Estate threatens to take away the town's history.
The following is a letter to the editor: Recently a group of Endicott Estate neighbors and other concerned Dedham citizens formed a group to preserve the grounds of the Endicott Estate as open space, and to develop a consensus site for a senior center facility. Dedham is increasingly becoming a congested, densely developed place. Four story apartment buildings are now not uncommon. Streets like East Street which once had no traffic lights, now have four. Developers frequently take large lots on roads like Walnut Street and shoehorn three and four houses onto parcels that formerly bore just one home. Statistics confirm our daily experiences that Dedham has become largely built-out. According to the Town's Master Plan, Dedham lost 280 …
Monday, July 16, 2012
Senior Center Site Consensus Committee strongly supports building a senior center, but opposes locating another large building on the Endicott Estate.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, July 16, 2012
To the Dedham Patch, Recently, we met with the Board of Selectmen to voice our thoughts on the proposal to site a Senior Center at the Endicott Estate. While we strongly support a Senior Center, we oppose locating another large building and the associated increase in roads and parking on Dedham’s precious open parkland, the Endicott Estate. Green, open and accessible spaces are becoming rare in Dedham. In fact, Dedham ranks near the bottom of towns in our region for available open space. The Endicott Estate serves as Dedham’s common backyard, hosting town-wide concerts, rambles, and festivals as well as family picnics, sledding and kite flying. The estate is an open space that must be protected. Any new town building, including a Senior…
42.23952
-71.16474
The Endicott Estate
656 East St, Dedham, MA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-dedham-can-have-both-beautiful-open-spaces-and-a-new-senior-center
420917
/locations/7425554
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Supporters unveiled plans to the Dedham Board of Selectmen on Thursday.
The Dedham Council on Aging unveiled plans Thursday to the Board of Selectmen for a new 8,000-square-foot senior center on the property of the Endicott Estate. "It is very much in its preliminary stages right now," said COA chair Leanne Jasset. Plans call for an expansion to a barn located between the main building and the Endicott Branch Library. Supporters are looking to privately raise a vast majority of the estimated cost of the project - $2.5-$3.5 million - through fundraising, instead of relying on taxpayer funds. A feasibility study was conducted using a private donation. Dedham voters denied an $8.65 million taxpayer-funded senior center in June 2008. However, the Council on Aging will have to go through a public procurement …
42.23952
-71.16474
The Endicott Estate
656 East St, Dedham, MA
/articles/council-on-aging-aims-to-privately-fund-new-senior-center
420917
/locations/6370956
42.24667
-71.17349
Dedham Town Hall
26 Bryant St, Dedham, MA
/articles/council-on-aging-aims-to-privately-fund-new-senior-center
421309
/locations/6370957
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The Avery Re-Use Committee will meet Tuesday to continue discussing feasible uses for the High Street building.
Dedham seniors have turned down the current Avery School as a site of a new senior center – and will look to land at the Endicott Estate as a future home. The Avery Re-Use Committee is attempting to find a suitor for the 1921 building that will become vacant in the spring, and the debate is continuing Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The committee has a deadline of the end of the year - set by Town Administrator William Keegan - to establish a plan for a permanent occupant. The Council on Aging is considering locations in Dedham for a new senior center, and was up for the current Avery School, but COA chair Leanne Jasset told Dedham Patch that the site would not work for the COA’s clients. “We just felt all the research we’ve done over the decades…
42.23952
-71.16474
The Endicott Estate
656 East St, Dedham, MA
/articles/dedham-seniors-pass-on-avery-suitor-still-needed
420917
/locations/5809050
42.24783
-71.15755
Avery Elementary School
123 High St, Dedham, MA
/articles/dedham-seniors-pass-on-avery-suitor-still-needed
421301
/locations/5809051
Monday, October 17, 2011
After hearing results on a recent survey, we want to know what you think about a new senior center.
Council on Aging representatives said results of a recent survey makes a good case for a new senior center in Dedham. Just a few years after Dedham voters turned down a proposal for a new center, momentum is building again for another run at it. Supporters say the survey results point to a demand for a number of classes that the current one-room facility just can't offer. Answer our anonymous poll below.
Avon Barksdale
12:22 pm on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
"the ones opposing how many of you are even senior citizens?????" We will all be senior citizens one day, and many of us will still live in Dedham. You don't build a municipal center just for today, you invest in it for multiple generations. The idea that my opinion - as someone whose tax dollars will fund this enterprise for decades - is any less valuable than a current senior citizen's is … more ›