March 12, 2026 by Anita Ryan
Hingham’s Public Library is a quiet symbol of community cohesion. From toddlers at story time to seniors attending classical guitar concerts to teens studying for exams, the library serves them all. Yet, its story is one of stops and starts, which is the case with many of the Town’s facilities simply because we can’t afford everything all at once. Indeed, Hingham’s recent decisions around its library infrastructure reveal our fiscal challenges — one that casts a shadow on the newly proposed $30 million, 26,000- square-foot Center for Active Living or Senior Center.
The library’s struggle for renovation is an important lesson. In 2018, the Hingham Public Library was awarded a $9.2 million provisional construction grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. This grant represented a significant contribution to a major renovation to rejuvenate and expand the tired facility. That renovation would have addressed decades of unmet needs — inadequate meeting rooms, cramped study areas, parking shortfalls, and an undersized children’s wing. But by February 2019, the renovation project ground to a halt.
Considering that the Town wanted to buy the water company that same year – and no doubt mindful that the Town simply can’t afford to do every desired infrastructure project – the Select Board recommended “no action” on the warrant article for Town Meeting. This effectively meant that the Select Board rejected the level of spending required by the Town as a condition of the state’s grant. The library trustees later voted (9-5) to withdraw the warrant article from Town Meeting. To say that those who worked long and hard on the state grant and the renovation project were disappointed is an understatement. Members of the public (myself included) viewed this as a missed opportunity to create an enhanced asset for our Town.
Our library houses many treasures: it preserves centuries of Hingham’s history in its collections — everything from the founding of Bare Cove to the letters of long-gone townspeople. It is used for research, for learning, for community gathering, for sanctuary in the heat and for quiet reflection. And yet, when the chance came to secure funding to sustain and modernize it, the Town stepped away, saving taxpayers significant costs and deciding to continue operating within the current building. This decision didn’t completely avoid capital costs, but those costs have recently been directed at maintaining the current building, not materially improving it.
This brings us to Hingham’s current proposal: a 26,000-square-foot senior center with a price tag of $30 million. Earlier the Town encouraged us to spend $55mm for a new public safety facility so that the current Senior Center could expand into the Police Department space, nearly tripling its size and maintaining its central location, while avoiding the building of a new standalone facility. Now that same Town switched the goal on us and are proposing a senior center that is far more than an expanded footprint — it’s a $30 million undertaking that includes over $6 million in site costs. And given that we couldn’t advance a library renovation in the same cost range, even with state assistance, we should ask whether this senior center is the right project at the right time for Hingham.
Some might argue that our seniors deserve more dedicated space, and they do — no question. We proved that commitment when we voted to move the police out of Town Hall just as our leaders asked us to do. Now being asked to spend substantial funds for a brand new building that handcuffs us to the maintenance and upkeep of another building in perpetuity requires careful judgment, particularly when longstanding community assets such as the Library, Hingham High School and Town Hall require material investment. Sound fiscal stewardship often means distinguishing between what we want and what is truly feasible or responsible at this point in time. It doesn’t make sense and it’s not in keeping with Hingham’s fiscal discipline to keep spending tens of millions on new buildings while we let our existing facilities squander by the wayside. We simply can’t do it all and this proposed Center for Active Living is not the right project at the right time.
I did NOT realize that we turned down $9,000,000 that could have been used to improve the library. Thanks for pointing this out to me, and likely to many others.
How many trees in “selectmen’s parcel “ coming down for this project” “ adjacent “ to Bare Cove Park ?
As a life long resident of Hingham, I agree with the points made in this letter. The town needs to distinguish what residents would like to have versus what is feasible at this point in time.
I have said it before and say it again…this project is not needed. Hingham citizens are once again being asked to take on yet another tax hit to pay for yet another improvement/vanity project. Let’s think: public safety building + foster school + senior center + 3A improvements + swimming pool = a lot of high ticket projects that affect many residents’ wallets.
I keep reading about the increasing numbers of seniors living in Hingham but never see any numbers of the actual users of the center. My rough estimates show 300 cores users out of 8000 eligible residents. Estimations to 2032 show a 6% increase in the number of eligible seniors townwide which would, by the math, increase total SLC usage to 480 residents.
Personally, I feel that this is a ‘if you build it they will come’ wish project. Sorry, this 1974 HHS grad is casting a NO vote.
This town doesn’t stop spending money and balancing the books on the backs of their taxpayers. Enough. Do we really need a dedicated facility when the space on central can be renovated? You are pricing people out of this town.
There is a similar situation this year. So that we do not lose electricity in a major storm, HMLP is asking the town to borrow up to $70 million for underground transmission lines. The money will be paid back through elastic rates over 20-40 years. This is in addition to the $30 million for the Hingham Center for Active Living (HCAL).
Indeed, a cautionary tale. Your article was so well written based on facts not feelings. We all have to make decisions in our daily lives about what we want versus what we need and as you pointed out this decision about the senior center is no different. There is too much emotion tied up in the conversation about a new senior center. Yes, seniors are important in our community. I am a senior and while I agree the current center is too small and a modest investment should be made to continue the valued services provided by the center, I am not in favor of the $30 million plus investment being proposed. There are too many competing needs not wants. A very important point was made in the article about upkeep and maintenance that will be required in the years to come. How is the money needed for that being configured in the proposal? Where will the money come from to support a structure of the size and location being proposed? It’s not just today we have to be concerned about but the future. Someday soon, Town Meeting will be wrestling with the cost of maintaining a building of the size being proposed. On this note another cautionary tale that should be considered is Lincoln School Apartments where seniors live. Town Meeting this year will include a warrant question to sell the building to a developer because the town can no longer afford to care for it. If approved, a developer could be approved to expand the property from the 30 apartments today to as many as 60. Lincoln School apartments is a much smaller footprint than the center being proposed,
The library example does not apply here. The situation described here was about competing capital priorities at a specific moment in time, not about a project that went wrong or created a financial problem.
Using it as a warning about the Center for Active Living suggests a risk that isn’t actually present. In reality, this project has been studied, revised, and publicly discussed for many years, with the size already reduced and costs evaluated through multiple rounds of analysis.
Comparing unrelated decisions from different periods may create unnecessary concern rather than helping residents understand the actual proposal in front of us.
Hingham has since developed a schedule to address long delayed capital needs.
A cauitionary tale indeed. You’re article is well written and based on facts not feelings. There is too much emotion tied up in the conversation about the senior center and in my opinion the emotions have taken over and we have lost sight of what the need is and what is realistic to address the need. There is a big difference between what we want and what we need. We all have to make those decisions in our own lives. The argument that our seniors are important and we should do this for them is not a fair or reasonable argument. Every person old, young, middle aged etc etc are important and all have different needs. I agree the current senior center could use some improvements and more space and I am in favor of some modest improvements but considering all of the needs throughout the town the proposed center is not realiastic I am a senior and I am not in favor of this proposal. What will be the cost of maintaining a structure of this size over time? Were those costs considered in the proposal? I imagine at some town meeting in the future the cost of maintening the “new” senior center will be up for debate. Another cautionary tale is the Lincoln School Apartments. There will be a question in the town meeting warrant to vote on selling Lincoln School Apartments to a developer. Why? The town can no longer afford to care for the Lincoln School Apartments. Seniors live there. The footprint and needs of the Lincoln School Apartments is considerably smaller than the footprint of the proposed new senior center which over time the town may not be able to afford to care for.