The old and the new are coming together in Concord’s community center project.
When we last visited the site where the Dame School used to stand, the former gym was just a scar of dirt and mud, a gaping wound revealing the elementary school’s brick bones.
Now, fluttering skeins of plastic cover what will soon be glass, opening the center’s heart to the world. The ribs of the new high school-sized gym arch above what will soon be a poured rubber floor, and the arms of the center – for several multipurpose programming rooms – will soon be open to the public.
The building’s brick, as well as the recognizable front of the Dame School, still recall the feel of the old. That’s intentional, said Concord Parks & Recreation Director David Gill.
“We wanted to honor that old with the new,” Gill said during a recent tour. “The city took a long time to bring this together, and a lot of kids went through this school.”
But it’s the new that will really make the building stand out as what Gill characterized as the city’s first true community center (the East Concord Community Center, which the city is now looking to sell, the Green Street Community Center and the West Street Ward House all had different uses, although the ward house still acts as a voting location).
In addition to the new gym, the center will also feature a senior lounge and a satellite library, where the city’s interloan library system will be located, as well as some computers, for 15 hours a week for the first year. Gill said the hours may increase or decrease depending on its popularity.
The outside will be just as much a part of the center’s inside, Gill said. Because the center has two entrances, with one opening onto Keach Park, residents will be able to access the center in two ways, and exterior electrical outlets will allow for outdoor concerts to be held at the park.
Many of the rooms are designed as multipurpose to maximize usage, including the library, Gill said. But having senior programming and children’s programming (many of the city’s summer activities are already billed as taking place at the center) will also make it multigenerational.
“I think that’s the part people are most excited about,” Gill said, “that we can have that multigenerational aspect here.”
The $7.6 million project is slated to be completed sometime in June.
It’s not uncommon to feel like you’re being watched when you pass through the Pleasant and Main streets intersection after dark.
While it’s always a good idea to check over your shoulder, the voyeur-like sensation you’re feeling is probably the eye above Pitchfork Records, an art installation by artist Tom Devaney. And after two years of startling motorists and pedestrians, the eye will soon be shut.
The installation is set to come down next week, according to a press release. To celebrate, or bid farewell, Devaney will be hosting a party in his studio at 3 Pleasant St., Suite 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.
The blue-green eye is projected onto a large 3-D canvas in the center of Devaney’s studio, giving it its rounded appearance and allowing it to survey the Pleasant-Main intersection.
For more about the history of the eye, check out the Concord Insider’s interview with Devaney, out on Tuesday.
There are three Easter egg hunts competing for your child’s sharp eyes and sticky fingers this Saturday.
Early birds can check out the Lions Club event at the Kimball Jenkins Estate from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday; the hunt will start at 10:15 a.m.
There’s also a hunt at White Park at 10:30 a.m. put on by the Concord Grange and Broken Ground School teacher Matt Finney, as well as another hunt put on by Concord Grange at Keach Park at 11 a.m.
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)