64°
WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — A design for the renovation of the Westborough Town Hall would make the building handicap-accessible for the first time.
Brian Humes, the same architect tasked with designing Westborough's new fire station, presented his plans to the Board of Selectmen, noting the addition of elevators and ramps to increase accessibility.
"What we're proposing in general is a complete renovation of the exterior of the building," Humes said. "All that would be renovated not with wood, but with maintenance-free products."
The project, which Town Manager Jim Malloy said he expects to cost the town in the area of $7.1 million, has only been budgeted for design to this point. Proposed renovations would alter the front and back doors, adding doors to create an airlock that will help the building regulate temperature.
There would also be a small addition in the rear that would require the purchase of a small amount of land from an adjacent property.
"There have been some conversations with the abutting property owner," Humes said.
What is now the Selectmen's meeting room and town manager's office would become an entrance hallway, with the Selectmen moving to the upstairs of the Town Hall.
An elevator would be added to make the upper floors handicap-accessible.
"All of the levels [of the Town Hall] will be utilized in this renovation," Humes said, noting that the elevator would be two-sided.
Construction costs would include $300,000 to fix the roof.
Malloy said Town Hall would not be a "safe work environment" while the work was being done, and the project would require leasing space for the town offices, which would make the renovation more costly.
Comments