MANY TOWN HALLS across Massachusetts were built more than a century ago during a golden age of public architecture to reflect shared values and common culture. Today, too many town halls are run down and reflect a tarnished view of the public sector.
A dispiriting story in the Globe this month revealed the decline: snow that drifts through the drafty windows of Lowell City Hall, structurally unsound beams that shut down Westford Town Hall, inadequate access for the handicapped at the town hall in Topsfield. The list reads like a worn-out catalog, or rather a catalog of the worn-out. While some of the buildings are historically significant, others are unimaginative efforts from the 1970s. But shabby conditions inside and out speak identically about the depreciation of public life.
Some town officials may be reluctant to make a case for town hall. With the need to trim budgets in public safety departments and schools, selectmen and town managers may fear advocating for funds to restore their own places of work. But there is more going on in the assessing, treasurer, and inspection offices than might first appear. These are important places where the daily concerns of residents and the duties of public officials intersect. The loss or diminishment of such spaces is a setback in ways both personal and collective.
State and federal funds for town hall restorations are limited. There is practically nothing in the state’s current capital budget plan for town hall restorations, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon, according to state officials. The enormous demand, however, can be seen in the $4.3 billion worth of earmarks for town building repairs in the state’s 2008 bond bill. But raising even a tiny fraction of that amount is a mere fantasy in a state with a $1.6 billion bond cap covering housing, transportation, and other more pressing needs.
Many of the 142 cities and towns that adopted the Community Preservation Act since 2001, however, have a fighting chance. The law allows a real estate tax surcharge of up to 3 percent to be used for town improvements, including historic preservation of buildings. And it comes with a state match. Needham and Bridgewater are tapping these funds to restore town halls, and so should other towns. Towns that have yet to adopt the Community Preservation Act should consider it not only as a means to preserve open space but as a way to preserve the history and character of their towns.
Some town halls are simply too small to accommodate current needs. But clever officials from Berlin to Salem have adapted these buildings for arts, performance space, and even wedding halls. Town officials with rooms to spare in public buildings could raise rehabilitation funds by exploring rental opportunities with state agencies, such as the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which are looking to escape expensive private leases.
Efforts to save town halls, the most local of symbols, will have to take place on the local level. Even the harshest critics of municipal budgets would have trouble imagining their lives without their towns. The same concern should extend to the public buildings that represent that way of life.
