LETTER: Common Sense Points to Town Hall Move

To the editor:

No one is arguing that the North Kingstown Town Hall is not a beloved building. No one is arguing that it is not a symbol of the town, a much appreciated meeting place and a tribute to its farsighted builders, however, on several fronts, it can no longer provide the space the town needs, and its deteriorating condition presents safety concerns for those who work there and for all those who do business in the building. It would be folly to ignore the warnings regarding its condition from our fire and engineering departments and do nothing to address the issues. ...

There are benefits to moving house. More space, and the opportunity for all citizens to have equal access to all that a Town Hall has to offer its citizens in the way of Town business. For years, the upper floors of the Town Hall have been inaccessible to the disabled. Various strategies were looked into to solve this impediment but none were found that were structurally feasible and/or financially sound and prudent, Moreover, it is not just the disabled that are barred from the upper floors, A growing group of our North Kingstown citizens are elderly and many of them find the stairs too challenging. Whether for the disabled or those no longer able to climb steep stairs, Town Department personnel have willingly interrupted their workdays to meet with these citizens on the lower floor. As the School Admin Building is all on one floor, these citizens will be able to take advantage of accessing all the Town Departments as others do, a victory for equal access that the Town has striven for for many years.

We would like to stress that we are unapologetic for voting to move out of the Town Hall and into other quarters, Structural and fire code violations may be brushed aside by others, but these building shortcomings point to the fact that moving out will protect the health and safety of those who work there. That alone should satisfy critics. We could not in good conscience have done otherwise.

Carol Hueston
chueston@northkingstown.org

Kerry McKay
kmckay@northkingstown.org

Jason Albuquerque
jalbuquerque@northkingstown.org

Editor’s note: the letter writers are members of the North Kingstown Town Council.