Swansea city hall

camgarsky4 · Post by **camgarsky4** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 4:58 pm

What a cool city hall for Swansea.....does anyone know if this structure still stands? Googled Swansea....and yes, it still is there! color pic below.

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Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 12:35 am

WOW yes cool, thanks! I wonder what style of architecture that is?

Gothic?

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Nov 30, 2023 5:29 am

I was hoping MB would tell us more. Plus he has hundreds of postcards and may have this building?

Reasonwhy · Post by **Reasonwhy** » Fri Dec 01, 2023 2:20 am

So unusual, Camgarsky; thanks.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sun Dec 10, 2023 8:30 pm

Yes, the old Swansea Town Hall is still standing and operating as a town hall.

There has been much talk about replacing. it. And yes, it is very inadequate, but to that I say. Make-due

They recently had a vote in town to build a new structure and as is common, raise your taxes. They needed a 2 thirds yes vote and it was voted down.

Harrah

The building they wanted to build would have been up the road about a mile in a half, on the corner of Bark Street where the town has another building and some land. The proposal would combine the Town Public Works and New Town Hall and cost was 53 thousand dollars. OH NO. Sorry! I meant 53 Million. And that for a town of approx. 17,000 people.

It was reported that if passed it would raise the average taxes on a house by 500 dollars a year. (to be paid off in 25 years and which time your taxes would remain at 400 dollars up and above. You don't think once it's paid for that your taxes will go down by 400 dollars, do you?) Crazy politicians. That 500 dollar tax rate would be on a house worth 400,000 dollars. The average house in Swansea today is worth about 457,000. Home prices

The market is overdue for a crash.

So the old Gothic town hall still stands as you see in the photo in the post above and business goes on as it did since it was dedicated a year before the Borden Murders. (At which time Swansea had a population of about 1500 or about 10 times smaller than it is today. To the people at town hall I say: Go purchase a bigger filing cabinet.

(I did have an extensive post card collection of Fall River and wrote an article on collecting post cards in the now defunct Hatchet magazine, but Stefani inherited them. And I'm not even dead yet... or am I

Below is a proposed photo of what the new town hall would look like.

camgarsky4 · Post by **camgarsky4** » Sun Dec 17, 2023 6:47 pm

Potential new building is boring! I agree keep the original town hall....figure it out!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sun Dec 17, 2023 8:07 pm

Yes, and they are going to propose the new town hall once again in Swansea. They sure saw a sucker coming. Now they are saying between 48 and 53 million. What a rip off. I say no, no, no!

The town of Newbury, here in Massachusetts is also proposing a new town hall. Their proposal is for a 10 million dollar building for a town of 7 thousand souls. Swansea has 17 thousand. A little over twice as much but the new town hall cost, 5 times as much.

Also proposing a new town hall is the town of Sharon here in MA. The town of Sharon has the same population as Swansea and the proposal calls for a new town hall costing 10 million, also.

The city of WAUKESHA, Wisconsin which has a population of 70,000, nearly 5 times the size of Swansea, and a proper city, just built a new city hall in 2021 for less than 20 million.

I know it was 4 years ago but still, Huntsville, Alabama, a city of well over 200 thousand, was proposing a city hall, a huge building, which looks to be 3 times bigger than the Swansea proposal for 60 million.

What's the beef Swansea? Have cost really gone up that much?

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sun Dec 17, 2023 8:22 pm

On another plane is the new Durfee High School built just over a year ago.

This is a massive building which cost 260 million. It's an impressive building and they did a beautiful job.

Was it worth 260? Can't say. But it is on level with a new universe when compared to the old building on the same property. The new building is in the spirit of the original Durfee building on Rock Street.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Dec 19, 2023 6:21 am

Thank you for the information. Glad you found the topic!

And please folks, let us not consider our beloved Hatchet “defunct” which means “no longer existing or functioning”: it is still vivid and vital and interesting, enjoyable and relevant, as I am most sure MB will agree

We are in archive status, but one can enjoy articles or authors separately or print on demand.
https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetOnline/

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Wed Dec 20, 2023 1:44 am

Yes Kat, right you are.

The Hatchet is still vital and usable and available. By defunct I meant that there is no new publications, articles, or content being generated, a new. Everyone has gone home. But the door is still unlocked. Pour yourself a steaming cup of coffee and drop on by to research or browse. (Bring a coaster. Don't leave your dirty spoon on the table. And wash your cup once you are done

)

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetOnline/

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