Building Use Audit Recommends Relocating Library, School Offices, COA

An independent and extensive building use audit of Wayland Town Building, Fire Station #2 and the Wayland Public Library has resulted in a best case-scenario option that would shake up the programs in each of those buildings.

Option 1, the most viable option according to the report, would house the Wayland Public Library and Council on Aging in a new building to be constructed at Wayland Town Center; move the Wayland Public Schools offices into the current library building; shift the Wayland Art Center (currently housed in the same building as Fire Station #2) into the current schools offices; and allow Fire Station #2 to expand into the current Wayland Art Center space. The current school offices would also house some additional IT space.

This preferred option is estimated to cost a total of $28.17 million.

Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc. (architects); Consulting Engineering Services, Inc. (MEPFP engineers); Foley Buhl Roberts and Associates, Inc. (structural engineers); and CostPro Inc. (cost estimating) have submitted a 200-page report detailing their findings.

Read the full report.

The group visited each building considered for the report, assessing its current uses and prioritizing the renovations needed on a scale of "Current critical" to "Recommended."

The cost of each project was then tabulated individually, according to the report.

The group presented five total possible ways to better use the three buildings, but considered only one a truly viable option.

It did present a slight variation to Option 1 that left the school offices in Wayland Town Building and "mothballed" or put up for sale the current library. This variation reduced the estimated cost to $27.21 million, but also didn't allow for a needed IT or school offices expansion.

The completed report did not indicate any "Current Critical" needs, but found an abundance of "Potentially critical" needs, particularly at the town building and library.

The "Potentially critical" needs were concentrated heavily under the sub-heading of "Life Safety" and included items such as upgrading the fire alarm systems at the library and town building and improving egress at both buildings.

The largest single cost estimate -- $1.82 million -- was for an upgrade to the exterior lighting at town building, but this was noted simply as "Recommended." The largest single cost for a "Necessary-Not yet critical" upgrade was to the town building's electrical system, which came in at $601,000.