The Town Takes Action

2008-2009

 

THE tarkiln study committee

In July 2008, at the urging of the Community Preservation Committee and local citizens, the Duxbury Board of Selectmen appointed the Tarkiln Study Committee.  The committee was charged with identifying preservation options for the town.


The committee formed subcommittees to accomplish these goals:


  1. 1.Review the existing assessments, bid documents, and RFP responses;

  2. 2.Inspect the property and update the assessments to reflect current conditions and add missing information;

  3. 3.Author a new project plan, using as much of the prior work as possible, and compile budgetary cost estimates to complete the work;

  4. 4.Conduct outreach to collect data that will inform the town of potential uses of the property; and

  5. 5.Organize volunteers to perform basic upkeep such as painting and cleaning until the Town takes action.

At Duxbury’s Annual Town Meeting in March 2008 the citizens voted down a project priced at $1,300,000 to completely renovate and modernize the historic structure.


At the 2009 Town Meeting Duxbury will vote on the new preservation option assembled by the study committee.

Many volunteers have come forward to take action

The committee reviewed the options and associated costs with the Community Preservation committee, Fiscal Advisory board, Finance Committee, the Town Manger, and the Board of Selectmen prior to the March 2009 Town Meeting.


The Study Committee put forward Article 18, Tarkiln Partial Restoration, at the 2009 Annual Town meeting.   Duxbury voters decided that the Tarkiln Twin Schoolhouses should be rehabilitated by the Town, at a cost of $435,720.  The funds were available in the Historic Preservation Reserve of the Town’s community Preservation Act fund.


In the interim, dozens of Duxbury residents have stepped forward and contributed their time and materials to performing the maintenance needed to reverse the deterioration of Tarkiln.  The volunteers have repaired and painted the exterior and cleaned up the grounds and interior.   One of the more mundane but significant jobs was to replace eight missing downspouts to resolve a long standing drainage problem which had impacted the stability of some of the large granite foundation cornerstones under the 1871 South Hall.

Links on this site Learning About Tarkiln Thinking About Tarkiln Doing something About Tarkiln Links to other sites Duxbury Government Tarkiln Committee Duxbury Parcel Map for Tarkiln Tarkiln Committee Google Group Duxbury Government Calendar Learning_About_Tarkiln.htmlThinking_About_Tarkiln.htmlhttp://www.town.duxbury.ma.us/Public_Documents/DuxburyMA_bcomm/TarkilnCommhttp://www.town.duxbury.ma.us/Public_Documents/DuxburyMA_bcomm/TarkilnCommhttp://host.appgeo.com/DuxburyMA/Map.aspx?ParcelID=0820900050000230&CondoID=0http://groups.google.com/group/tarkiln-2009http://www.town.duxbury.ma.us/Public_Documents/DuxburyMA_Calendar/?formid=158shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6

The committee presented a project plan to the Duxbury Community Preservation Committee on October 9, 2008.


The project proposal includes $330,000 of construction costs.  The proposal also includes  $34,000 for miscellaneous materials, and about $70,000 of contingency funds (20%) for a total proposed investment of $435,720.


If approved by the Duxbury electorate in the Annual town Meeting on March 2009,  the Tarkiln Community Center can be re-opened to daily use for the Town by 2010.