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Favored Town Hall plan would head east
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - March 28, 2012)
Favored Town Hall plan would head east
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Munson Township Trustees narrowed their choice of a preliminary design last week for a remodeled and expanded Town Hall.
They voted 2-1 to select one of two plans for the remodeling project slated to be done this year at the Auburn Road site. The preferred plan will allow architect Henry Penttila to focus on refining the design, providing elevation drawings and getting a better idea of cost estimates, Trustee Todd Ray said.
The plan would add about 4,718 square feet to the existing 3,763-square-foot building. It features a meeting room projecting from the building east toward Sherman Road. The Sherman Road side of the Town Hall would become the new entrance, rather than current Auburn Road side. Offices would be situated to the west, and a new, expanded community room would be located on the east side.
Trustee Andrew Bushman, who voted against the plan, has expressed his preference for a plan that essentially would flip the building orientation, with offices on the east side and a community room to the west. He has maintained that locating the community room on the west side would provide guests with greater access to the ball fields there. "We're building it for the community," he said.
Mr. Bushman offered last-minute changes to the his preferred plan, asking that the architect consider shifting offices from the east side to the southwest corner of the proposed building and squaring off that corner as well as a three-sided wall for the meeting room.
Mr. Penttila was not in attendance to comment on those revisions.
Mr. Bushman also asked for a redesign of the interior of the building to better link the meeting, caucus and community rooms. He said that would allow for an additional 40 to 50 persons to be accommodated for larger meetings.
Mr. Ray said he wrestled with both plans but favored the plan for offices on the west side, because if offers a better flow between the meeting room, offices and employee work space. He said he believes the outdoor area could still be accessed by those using the community room down a hallway.
Mr. Ray said he found Mr. Bushman's latest proposal "intriguing" but could not consider it, because the trustees did not have it before them.
He said he does not favor the plan preferred by Mr. Bushman, because it would expand the building to be within 50 feet of Auburn Road, instead of the current 70 feet.
Trustee Irene McMullen said she also favors the plan which places the offices to the west. "I think this flow works better," she said. While she found "pluses" with both plans, she said, the offices being closer to the meeting room and access to the community room from the kitchen sold her on the one with the eastern entrance.
Mrs. McMullen said she also prefers leaving the meeting room walls three-sided, because it directs the eye toward where trustees will meet. That the plan still allows community-room users to access the outdoor fields, she said. "While it's not ideal, you can still get out to the ball fields."
Even though trustees have selected one plan, the board will likely continue to make changes as the planning process continues, Mrs. McMullen said.
Mr. Bushman agreed. "The building is not going to look like that," he said of the preliminary design.
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