Renovations
at the Massachusetts Conference Center’s main meeting facility have
been indefinitely postponed, due to unexpected difficulties with a proposed
sale of land to pay for the project.
Annual Meeting delegates in June authorized the Board of Directors to
sell up to eight acres of the Conference’s 114-acre property in order
to raise funds for the renovation of Edwards House.
The Board had hoped that the eight acres, fronting Winter Street in
Ashland, would be desirable as house lots, since a private developer
has sewered and paved the street and is building houses on the opposite
side. However, there is now some question as to whether there is enough
sewer capacity in the area to handle the construction of additional
homes.
Engineering tests of the Conference’s land showed that it is not suitable
for septic systems.
“The
land is not as saleable as we initially thought,” said Dawn Hammond,
Associate Conference Minister for Policy and Finance.
However,
Hammond said, Board representatives have met with representatives of
Ashland who are interested in purchasing the land to preserve it as
open space. The Board is also continuing to investigate the sewer issue.
In the meantime, the proposed renovations have been postponed, and reservations
for Edwards House are now being accepted through February.
Construction bids for the renovation of Edwards House – which would
make the building accessible to the handicapped and would upgrade fire
and safety systems – came in at over $900,000, plus architectural and
engineering fees. The Conference has $600,000 for the project from The
Gift and The Promise Campaign.
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