Joan Pickett, MCNA President

October 16, 2002

Good evening. I am Joan Pickett and I live at 59 Ellery Street. I am the current President of the MCNA.

On October 8th, the Association held a meeting to review and discuss the four massing schemes developed for the Library Expansion. The meeting was well attended with over 60 members present and as usual a lively discussion occurred.

After the presentation by Alan Burne and Richard Rossi and Q & A, the MCNA members proposed and voted on several motions related to the information and discussion. While the two key motions varied in their rigor and precision, they were unified in their focus. Both motions contained the `essence' of the overwhelming concerns of the members which in general may not have been adequately addressed by library planners to date:

The concerns expressed by the membership in the two key motions, centered on:1) the preservation of open space -- both the availability and quality of open space---including the Joan Lorentz Park, 2) how the massing decision will influence traffic flow around the site and placement of parking ramps and in general concern over increased traffic into the neighborhood and resulting resident parking issues and 3) preserving and optimizing the use of historically significant original library building.

The third vote of the evening was a majority endorsement expressing the MCNA's appreciation of the benefits that a greatly improved library will bring.

Open space is scarce in Mid Cambridge and you have all heard that before. But as we consider the massing options available, I'd like us all to step back so we can fully appreciate the import of this decision before us and in particular provide some perspective for those that don't live in Mid Cambridge.

When I refer to open space I am predominantly but not exclusively focusing on Joan Lorentz Park -- the grassed area south of the tennis courts and east of Trowbridge Street, including the trees that border it, together with the tennis courts which is the heart of JLP.
Everyone in Cambridge, including all of Mid-Cambridge, can appreciate the need to preserve the heritage beech trees in front of the Library and massive oaks behind it as well as the need for the tot lot. But the heart of Joan Lorentz Park is uniquely important to Mid-Cambridge residents because it is the only genuinely open space many of us see and experience on a daily basis. The only other open spaces in Mid Cambridge are four tot lots and the Paine Park basketball court.

For a minute, let's assume that the Library is not sited in Mid Cambridge. Let's assume the decision had been made to site the Library expansion in the Agassiz neighborhood or in North Cambridge and the potential new front yard of the Library is Sacramento Field in Agassiz or the Russell Field in North Cambridge. I am sure you would be hearing the same concerns as you are hearing from Mid Cambridge residents . Those neighborhoods too would be concerned over the potential loss of open space and the shift in the quality of that space.

While Joan Lorentz Park is our neighborhood's s park, it is also part of the larger civic complex including the existing Library, the High School and the War Memorial. In recognition of the unique role this open space plays for Mid Cambridge, the MCNA seeks to have the massing and subsequent design respect the neighborhood's need for optimizing the amount of open space as well as preserve the quality of that space. Therefore, how the massing decision influences the quality and sense of that open space is also of overwhelming importance to us.

Another major concern of the MCNA is the implication of traffic and parking on the site once the massing scheme has been selected. While we recognize that no final decisions have been made in any of the schemes as to the location of parking facilities, we believe the massing decision will dictate parking options. As it relates to the massing decision, we are concerned about the alignment of driveways and ramps and the flow of traffic around the site which will greatly influence the quality and usability of the space. In sum, we do not want the parking solutions to overwhelm the open space

We were pleased to hear at our meeting that the Library design team has been asked to develop alternate massing options based on comments and other feedback it has received so far. We hope everyone will encourage the development of options that recognize the unique character of our open space and seeks to preserve and optimize the quality of open space.

We believe we will be able to find a massing solution that can serve both the needs of the Library program and the needs of the neighborhood. The MCNA welcomes the opportunity to continue to provide input into the process so that we can achieve that goal.