Newton City Hall

Font Size: + -

Feedback Print

Chadwick City Hall painting 1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459

Goals

Preserve, restore and rehabilitate key, character-defining historic features and significant historic artifacts held in Newton's 1932 Georgian-style City Hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the surrounding landscape designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm, while also adapting this historic building to meet current community needs and accessibility standards.

See also City Archives page for related projects at several sites, including but not limited to City Hall.

Funding

$68,250	CPA funds currently requested
$386,150	CPA funds spent (all unspent balances returned to Community Preservation Fund)
$1,100,000- $3,200,000	Additional CPA requests anticipated (based on FY14-19 Capital Improvement Plans)

Note: Amounts above exclude the City-owned Civil War Monument, on the grounds of the private Newton Cemetery.

Projects

City Hall & War Memorial Exterior Stairs (including 2019 pre-proposal)
War Memorial Auditorium (accessibility & acoustics)
City Hall Balustrade, Windows & Lighting
City Hall Landscape

Contact

For Building

Public Buildings Dept.
City of Newton
52 Elliot Street
Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464
617-796-1600

Commissioner Joshua Morse
jmorse@newtonma.gov

Project Manager Rafik Ayoub
rayoub@newtonma.gov

For Historic Art, Artifacts & Archives

City Clerk
Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
dolson@newtonma.gov
617-796-1210

For Landscape

Commissioner of Parks & Recreation
City of Newton
246 Dudley Road
Newton, MA 02459
617-796-1500
bderubeis@newtonma.gov
cschein@newtonma.gov

Background on the Historic Significance of Newton City Hall

1997 - Listing of Newton City Hall on the National Register of Historic Places
February 2012 - City Hall Historic Building Report - from CPA-funded series for all historic City buildings

City Hall & War Memorial Auditorium

Goals

City Hall War Memorial Stairs Exterior Stairs (2004 and 2019) - Rehabilitation of stonework and masonry, enhanced accessibility.

Note: The 2004 study also included the municipal Civil War Monument, built of similar materials but located on the grounds of the nearby Newton Cemetery (private).

Acoustics & Accessibility - 2013-14 request for CPA funds to rehabilitate the War Memorial Auditorium by adding a new elevator and to improve acoustics in both the Auditorium and Aldermanic Chamber; this project was ultimately implemented with non-CPA funds

Funding

2004 Assessment of War Memorial Exterior Stairs

$15,000

CP funds appropriated & spent (historic resources)

2013-14 Acoustics & Accessibility Project (Final Funding Came Only From Non-CPA Sources)

$80,000	Federal (CDBG) funds spent
$749,950	CPA funds originally requested (historic resources)
$581,741	Additional CPA funds that would have been requested if scope of work was expanded at CPC request

2019 Exterior Stairs Historic Rehabilitation & Accessibility Project

$68,250	CPA funding requested for conceptual design (historic resources)
$2,332,000	Additional CPA funding request anticipated for final design & construction
$25,000	City non-CPA funding for project management by Public Buildings staff

Proposal Review & Appropriations

2013-15 War Memorial Acoustics & Accessibility

February-July 2013 - Pre-proposal
18-20 December 2013 - Corrected full proposal (orig. submission 15 November 2013):
- Main proposal (including photos, project manager, sponsor capacity, historic analysis)
- Project budgets (development & operating)
- Project site & floor plans, elevations (these large files may load slowly):
  - Part 1
  - Part 2
  - Part 3
- Additional background documents:
  - Spring 2013 Acoustical analysis of War Memorial Auditorium and Aldermanic Chamber
  - Spring 2013 Elevator feasibility study
26 February 2014 - Slide presentation to CPC public hearing
19-23 June 2014 - Revised draft proposal, with potential expanded/alternative scope requested by the CPC (accessible exterior entrance and restrooms; exterior elevator as alternative option)
14 July 2014 - Request for the CPC to hold this proposal temporarily
10 April 2015 - Withdrawal of this proposal (project funded from non-CPA sources)

City Hall & War Memorial Exterior Stairs

15 October 2004 - War Memorial Stairs proposal (historic rehabilitation assessment)
30 March 2005 - War Memorial Stairs CPC funding recommendation (assessment)
16 May 2005 - War Memorial Stairs Board order (appropriation)
22 February 2019 - City Hall (Front) & War Memorial Exterior Stairs historic rehabilitation & accessibility pre-proposal for design services
- On 12 March 2019 the CPC voted to consider an off-cycle full proposal for this project if it included a clear plan for additional non-CPA funding.

Project News & Results

War Memorial Exterior Stairs

June 2006 - Interim Assessment Report
June 2007 - Final Assessment Report, including recommendations (large file, may load slowly) and plans

City Hall Balustrade, Windows & Lighting

Goals

Restore key, character-defining features of Newton's 1932 Georgian-style City Hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places: balustrade and cupola, arched wood windows (especially in the second-floor Aldermanic Chambers and War Memorial Auditorium); lighting in main public corridors.

Funding

$391,260	CPA funds appropriated 2003-04 (historic resources)
$330,500	CPA funds spent 2004-2008 (unspent balance returned to CP Fund)
$1,093,000	CPA funds to be requested as of 2012 (historic resources)

Proposal Review & Appropriations

City Hall Historic Lighting 2002-04

December 2002 - Combined proposal for multiple features of City Hall (cupola & balustrade, windows, lighting)
8 January 2003 - Revised proposal:
- Summary & additional detailed scope of work, especially for windows
- Photos (primarily windows) & plans (roof & cupola)
February 2003 -
- Revised budget and additional detail/specifications for scope of work, all features
- Eligibility for additional support from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund
7 April 2003 - CPC funding recommendation
May 2003-May 2004 - Board orders (appropriations):
- Windows, $119,400
- Lighting, $96,200
- Cupola & balustrade, $150,660
- Transfer from balustrade to lighting, $25,000 already appropriated but unspent, no new appropriation)

City Hall Windows 2012-13

3 July 2012 - City Hall historic windows pre-proposal
2 November 2012 - The City of Newton postponed submission of a full proposal.
24 July 2013 - The CPC agreed to consider a full proposal once a prototype study has been completed to assess repair, restoration and replacement options for the various styles of historic windows in City Hall.

Project News

2003-04 - Original project timelines
7 June 2013 - Consultant assessment report on City Hall windows

City Hall Landscape

Goals

Provide a phased plan for the preservation and rehabilitation of this award-winning landscape, designed and installed in 1931-32 by Henry Vincent Hubbard of the Olmsted Brothers firm to complement the Georgian design of Newton's new City Hall, with ponds fed by Cold Spring Brook.