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Reconstruction of the severely water-damaged Bourne Veterans

Bourne Courier - 4/11/2018

Reconstruction of the severely water-damaged Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Center began April 2, and building trustees are so far satisfied with work to date.

Center Director Krissanne Caron advised trustees the massive cleanup had concluded after a fire suppression water line burst in January. She said an insurance settlement was secured and that emergency Town Meeting voters authorized expenditures for the makeover.

Initial work involves installing insulation, as well as sheet rock and flooring in the center gym and Community Café. Caron said work will continue on an extended basis most days.

Center trustees' remarks were measured but not guarded. There is optimism that a better building will result. Progress is being recorded after a winter in which several center programs were outsourced to other town buildings.

Trustees said attention is also being paid to the Memorial Hall of Flags at the building's west end. This area received only minor damage during the flood, but mold issues arose behind the various listings of Bourne military members who served during foreign conflicts.

Center trustee Chris Farrell said there will be some rearrangement of panels listing Bourne names in order to accommodate the addition of Gulf Wars I and II.

Work in the Hall of Flags, if expedited, would allow public reuse of meeting rooms on both sides of the hall. That development would likely allow the center to accommodate Precincts I and III during the May 7 Annual Town Election.

The building was designed as an intergenerational structure, but there was no municipal oversight during construction more than a decade ago. Trustees said deficiencies will now be corrected in reconstruction efforts.

Trustee chairman Joseph Gordon said a clerk of the works is on site representing the town. This factor might save the town some money, he said.