“Shrewsbury's Proposed Library in Perspective”
The Patriots were victorious. The video was awesome. The blimp overhead video shot showed the entire football field. Quite a sight, wasn's it? Oh,….. that's right,…..that's how long the proposed library will be. 300 feet,…100 yards…..a FOOTBALL FIELD.
To put the library's size in perspective, I measured the length of three public buildings you could drive by to make comparisons. The Senior Center is 133 feet long, the library is over TWICE as long as the Senior center. The Beal School is 162 feet long, making the library slightly less than twice as long. Finally, the Town Hall is 214 feet, making the library about 50% LONGER than the Town Hall. That's a huge building to be in the Town Center. It's a FOOTBALL FIELD long.
Now let's clear up a few facts. (1)The final design has NOT been done. (2)Public input is scheduled AFTER the vote. (3)There is no grant GUARANTEE. (4)We will NOT lose the grant if we vote the library down on October 18th. We have until 2014 to approve it. If you doubt facts 3 and 4, call Rosemary Waltos, at the Massachusetts Library Board Commission who is in charge of the awards, at 617-725-1860.
So what to do? First, vote the library down. Second, obtain a new conceptual drawing that substantially reduces the length seen from Main Street. Third, resubmit the new concept to the voters.
I urge you to vote NO, on October 18th and save our Town Center.
Ben Tartaglia
