LEVERETT — Residents at Annual Town Meeting this spring will likely make a decision that will guide the future uses of the former Bradford M. Field Library building at 1 Shutesbury Road.
After a committee and an architectural historian spent two years examining the site, and recent feedback sessions were held to gather community input, the Selectboard agreed last week to place an article on the Town Meeting warrant.
Maureen Ippolito, a member of the Field Building Ad Hoc Committee, told the Selectboard that people who participated in meetings in February were largely in favor of the town retaining ownership of the 1916 building, with many recommending that it become a multi-purpose space beyond being a museum and storage for historic artifacts.
One certainty from the meetings, she said, is that relocating the building, to become part of a complex near the Leverett Library, which opened in 2003, and Leverett Elementary School on Montague Road, shouldn’t happen.
“Moving is off the table,” Ippolito said.
What is included in the committee’s recommendations is exploring how to pay for a septic design. The building’s future uses are likely limited without running water and bathrooms.
What multi-use means is uncertain, though Selectboard member Tom Hankinson said one possibility is a senior center. Programs for senior citizens are currently at Town Hall and at the library.
Hankinson said town officials need to get community groups excited about future uses and then turn the effort over to them to do fundraisers and care for the building.
Susan Mareneck, who chairs the Historical Commission, said her panel could also be involved.
Selectboard Chair Patricia Duffy said there needs to be recognition that whatever happens will be a phased project and even a septic system may be unaffordable without grants.
Longtime resident Don Robinson said the building is important to the town’s future. He recounted that his late wife, Sara, while battling ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) used a device controlled with her eyes, and using her own recorded voice, to explain her rationale for why the building needs to be repurposed. People who were at the meetings in February got to hear her words.
“I hope that at Town Meeting it could also be played,” Robinson said.
Dog declared dangerous
In other business, the Selectboard declared a dog dangerous following its Feb. 11 attack on a Hadley woman who was walking on Rattlesnake Gutter Road, a popular place for recreation.
The order requires Diana Belmonte, who owns Rosie, a Labrador retriever, German shepherd and pit bull mix, to wear a basket-style muzzle and be on a 6-foot leash under the control of an adult when off her property. When at home, the dog is to be in a secure enclosure.
The incident occurred when a child was walking Rosie, who got away and jumped on Maria Gallo of Hadley.
Gallo told the Selectboard that the dog was “growling, lunging and biting and grabbing everywhere” for several minutes. While the dog didn’t break her skin, she did suffer bruises.
Gallo was walking with Stephen Braun, who said he was able to get the dog off Gallo by punching its face.
“My experience of it was this dog was very unpredictable,” Gallo said.
Hillary Szteliga, the regional animal control officer, said the situation could have been worse. “Had she not been bundled up, I believe the attack would have had more serious injuries,” Szteliga said.
Belmonte said she has no logical explanation for her dog’s behavior that day, but she pledged to make sure no similar incident occurs. “I want to work with the town so we can come up with a solution so nothing like this happens again,” Belmonte said.