Resident Keith Turner takes the microphone at Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)

Stu Sklar speaks in favor of a larger community space for Town Hall.

Two Harvard residents came forward Tuesday night to speak to Selectmen in support of including a large community space in the plans for Town Hall renovations. Both men said there was widespread support in town for such a space.

For weeks, the committee charged with managing the renovation of Harvard's 1872 seat of government has been roundly criticized by various town officials for failing, in their view, to seriously consider the use of its second floor—a space used in the past for performances, dances, elections and other large gatherings—for permanent offices and meeting rooms. Those in favor of using the space in that way say it would give the town's many volunteer committees more places to do their work and store their records, while reducing the footprint and cost of a new addition.

But as the pressure has built for the committee to respond with a "full build out" option, few residents have stepped forward to defend the need for a larger space.

That changed this week when both Keith Turner, of Littleton County Road, and Stu Sklar, of Scott Road, spoke during the public comment period at the biweekly meeting of Selectmen Tuesday.

Sklar said he had come to assure the Selectmen that there was support for a larger community space. He said he hoped to make that support visible through an online petition that he had created. The petition asserts that the funds approved by Town Meeting are to be used for designs that "not only meet the needs of town governance, but also provide for public assembly space including meeting, civic, and community space." The petition is hosted at a site sponsored by MoveOn.org. As of noon Wednesday, the petition contained one signature, that of its author.

Turner was more outspoken.

He accused a minority of the five-member Board of Selectmen–specifically Ron Ricci and Bill Johnson—of throwing roadblocks in front of the municipal building committee, whose work he praised. Article 17, which authorized the building committee to spend $185,000 for the design of Town Hall and Hildreth House, "does not say anything about partitioning off upper Town Hall," Turner argued. The article, which passed Town Meeting with an overwhelming majority, asks for civic and community space, he said, and "civic and community space is not offices."

Quoting from the Selectmen's statement of intent, Turner noted that while it specifically says the needs of town government are to get top priority, schematic designs for its use are not to "preclude other performance or community uses."

"That's pretty straight forward," said Turner. "The people aren't saying that they want that space just for dances," he continued, referring statements made in the past by Ricci.

Turner said that was a misreading of what residents wanted.

"They say they want a space where they can have a meeting they can't have in Bromfield School: a political rally perhaps, or a fundraising activity or a commercial activity," that would be prohibited at the Bromfield School or Volunteers Hall in the public library, Turner said. "They want a public assembly space where they can speak their mind."

Turner concluded by objecting to what he called "a cloak of fiscal conservatism" that proponents of permanent walled offices and meeting rooms were using.

"I'm confident the building committee is doing everything it can to save money," he said. "I'm confident the architects are doing everything they can to save money." But, he added, "I also expect them to be acting 'fiscally responsibly.'"

Fiscal responsibility involves consideration not only of today's needs, he said, "but tomorrow's as well."

None of the Selectmen responded directly to the comments, though Ricci and Johnson later praised last week's working session of the building committee.

In its latest designs, the committee has looked for ways to preserve a large meeting space that could accommodate 90 to 150 people, while increasing meeting areas for volunteer committees. The design issue is whether that goal can be met by using moveable partitions, by building permanent walls, or some combination of the two.