In our last issue, we reported on a new proposal regarding the York Town Hall dilemma. Specifically, various members of the community had asked our town leaders to consider the possibility of identifying existing buildings and property located in York Village, some of which have significant historical value, and purchasing them for conversion to town use, thereby creating a town "campus" to house the offices of the various town departments that would otherwise be placed in a yet-to-be-approved new town hall.
While this paper was among the original supporters of the town hall project in the village, we feel compelled to listen to the many residents who have weighed in with us on this issue.
Longtime resident Cynthia Raymond's well thought out letter on page 13 is indicative of the comments we have received since our report in our last issue. We encourage responsible discussion of this idea to go forward.
Our Town Hall situation is one that needs to be addressed. Likewise, the issue of preserving our town's historic character. Given present economic trends, the campus approach may well present an opportunity to deal with both issues in a cost-effective manner. Additionally, it appears that the new owners of the Coventry Hall property are willing to deal with the town in a legitimate manner to repurchase the land originally sold to the town for the current town hall proposal, and retain it as open space true to its heritage.
There are certainly many hurdles that this approach would face, some of which may prove insurmountable, and do so very quickly in the investigative phase. Nevertheless, if public comment to date is any indicator, the future of a newly constructed town hall on the existing Village site continues to appear to have a rough road ahead, and its eventual approval by voters remains far from given. Potential alternatives, then, would appear worthy of further discussion.
Our town, and many of its leaders, are heavily invested in addressing the town hall issue. Their diligent efforts to date deserve our applause. But we are quite possibly on the edge of a serious economic sea-change in many ways, not only here in York but nationally as well. Forward thinking in difficult times is no easy task. Making sure we have honestly looked at legitimate options is a good place to start.
