CAL Building Committee Report - Executive Summary

January 2025

In May of 2020, Article 15 of Annual Town Meeting established the Senior Center Building Committee. The Committee was renamed the Center for Active Living (CAL) Building Committee in 2023 to reflect the rebranding and renaming of the Senior Center. The seven-member Building Committee includes four citizens of the Town appointed by the Moderator and three citizens of the Town appointed by the Select Board, with the Director of Elder Services serving as ex-officio, non-voting member. The Committee’s findings were presented to the Select Board in December 2024.

The Committee was initially appointed to guide the exploration of plans for the design, engineering, and renovation of the Senior Center in Town Hall and the adjacent space currently occupied by the Police Department. In 2023, the charge of the Building Committee was expanded to include exploration of opportunities at Bare Cove Park. The Building Committee convened for 47 public meetings between January 2021 and December 2024. In addition to Building Committee Meetings, this report was informed by Center for Active Living documents; and related planning studies commissioned by the Council on Aging (COA) and Town of Hingham, including Community Needs Assessments and the Center for Active Living Feasibility Study.

The Building Committee’s purpose reflects the continuation of a long trajectory of Council on Aging advocacy, community discussions, and supportive studies to address the longtime awareness that the space and features of Hingham’s 30-year-old CAL are profoundly inadequate. As demographic shifts continue in the community, limitations of the Center for Active Living (CAL) will increasingly be a barrier to both participation levels and the expansion of impactful programs and services for Hingham’s large and growing population of older adults. Hingham’s population over age 60 nearly doubled from 17% in 1997 to 32% in 2024. Projections estimate that by 2035, 39% of Hingham’s population will be age 60 and over. According to 2025 Town census data, close to 44% of Hingham residents are age 50 and over. A modernized Center for Active Living with increased square footage, parking capacity, and accessible features responds to demographic shifts with accompanying diverse needs and interests; and provides a long-awaited new chapter in Hingham’s history 

The Committee’s initial efforts focused on the identification of a comprehensive overview of prioritized programs, services, and design features to be incorporated in future space. (See Hingham Programming Document.) With this summary established, the Committee evaluated the feasibility of leveraging available space in Town Hall to accommodate the vision set forth by the Committee. Concerns around parking and retrofitting the existing space ultimately led the Committee to request approval from the Town to pursue alternative sites. In 2023, the Town approved broadening the purpose of the 2020 appropriation of $525,000 (initially earmarked for preliminary design work to expand and renovate the current Senior Center and a related feasibility study) to include consideration of five alternative sites. The Select Board narrowed the process to two sites, Town Hall and Bare Cove Park. In December 2023 the Town of Hingham issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) to initiate the feasibility study and selection of an architectural firm; in April 2024 the Town finalized an agreement with EDM Design Studio, Inc. to provide engineering and conceptual design services.

Over the last 50 years, the role and design of Senior Centers have changed significantly. Hingham’s first Senior Center opened in 1971 and operated from a tiny footprint of 350 square feet. The goal of the Center was to “coordinate and carry out programs designed to meet the problems of aging” (Hingham Elder Services, Board Manual of Operations, 2012). Through the years, Hingham’s Senior Center’s mission expanded from reactively addressing problems to proactively encouraging independence, wellness, and engagement. Design trends that were evolving 15 years ago are now prominently featured standards in newly constructed Centers for Active Living. Increasingly, and in response to encouraging research, communities are incorporating their Senior Services departments within an all-ages community center to create spaces that leverage shared municipal resources and foster mutually rewarding social connections across generations. Centers that continue to operate from an age restricted model have grown to accommodate diverse needs and interests through multiple dedicated spaces for indoor and outdoor fitness, educational programs, theater and arts, technology needs, and café dining. 

As 2025 begins, Hingham’s Center for Active Living is at a critical crossroads. The community of Hingham has a promising, and timely opportunity to advance plans for the construction an innovative Center for Active Living, a community asset that fosters independence, wellness, and engagement community wide. The proposed site, size, and design features for the future CAL reflect 15+ years of research and advocacy among Town leaders; CAL staff; COA and Building Committee members; Friends of the CAL (FOCAL) members; residents, and volunteers.

With clarity gained through the Feasibility Study and insights of the design team led by EDM Studio, Inc., we look forward to building awareness and enthusiasm for this opportunity. A modernized Center for Active Living at Bare Cove will become a solid foundation from which evidence-based wellness promoting community connections, enriching programs, and supportive services will evolve and impact the lives of all aging residents –- older residents, future older residents, caregivers, family, and friends. A modernized Center for Active Living at Bare Cove is a significant, valuable, not to be missed opportunity for the entire community of Hingham.

This report reflects efforts undertaken by the CAL Building Committee to:

  • Document challenges at the existing Center
  • Understand and document related needs and interests among residents of Hingham
  • Explore programming and design concepts being incorporated in other newly designed Centers
  • Develop an overview of proposed services, programming, space features, and square footage for Hingham’s future Center for Active Living
  • Collaborate with EDM Studio, Inc. during the Feasibility Study to inform the site evaluation process and the development of design plans for a newly constructed Center for Active Living in Hingham.

Collective efforts have informed the Building Committee in finalizing this report and our enthusiastic recommendation of Bare Cove as the most preferable and feasible site for the Center of Active Living.


Center for Active Living Building Committee members:

  • Tom Carey, Chair
  • Beth Rouleau, Vice Chair
  • Vicki Donlan
  • Barbara Kahane
  • Sally O’Hare
  • Jean Silverio
  • Steven Young
  • Elder Services Director Jennifer Young, ex officio, non-voting member


Acknowledgements

The Study Committee is appreciative of Town Leaders, Members of the Council on Aging (COA), and Friends of CAL (FOCAL) for their participation and insights throughout the process of exploring community needs and potential options to construct a new Center for Active Living. We are grateful to residents who shared their thoughts and ideas during the community survey and workshops. Finally, we thank EDM Studio, Inc., Lifespan Design Studio, and SLR Consulting for their contributions to the advancement of this project; their engagement with the community and development of conceptual design plans have been instrumental to this process.