6/11/1980 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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r Page 3. ,Mr. Coombs continued that the natives of Mashpee have little left that relates to the sweat and tears of constant struggle for sur' v.ival, and even. that is too fast being taken -away by wither fire, demolition, or some other means' of erasing that which was the center of our community, Surely, careful consideration must be given by the ruling powers. that nothing is destroyed by razing or removal until all possible alternatives are exhausted that some constructive use of this building can be made by worthy inhabitants of the community. Nor. Coombs then asked to dive a history of the building which some present might not know. He said that in 1938 , when' Hitler was running rampant across - Europe , 38 , 000 men were stationed at what we how know as Camp Edwards. The U,s. . put up three buildings to enter- tain ater-- toin the servicemen - one in -Falmouth, Bourne and Barnstable. But in those days , what they called "'colored". servicemen, were not allowed to i share in the use of those buildings. So the * ..o. asked the Mashpee Town Fathers for permission to build another building here for- the black soldiers . Permission was granted in 1943. For a couple of Fears , creat programs were put on- there for the soldiers. But in 1944 there was no more use for the, bui ldin gs , so the Town Fathers of Mashpee were asked if they wanted to buy it,.+and at first they said "no" , but at Special Town Meeting on Sept. 23, 1946 , the Town voted. to raise and appropriate $15 ,500 for the purchase of the U.S.0'. - Building for a recreation and community center. According to the Town Report of 1948, the U.S.O. Building was used for Recreational Purposes (volley- ball, voll r-ball, basketball) ,, the meeting place of the American Legion and Auxi liary, ,summer theater,, town meetings and- elections, Later, Town Offices started moving in, and in 1951 all of the offices had taken over there. Up to - the present, it was used for a Town Building. new vault was constructed in 1951 for the Town', and it had all the conveniences of the clay - as fine as any on the Cape, I hate to see it destroyed now. The Wampanoag Tribal Council .has been searching for a building , and they need a place. Perhaps they could get a brant to help pay for it. Or maybe several croups could go- together- - the VFW, and other organizations. He continued - the building is structurally sound. . .but no effort has been made to protect it. with the cooperation of other a enc.ies , it could be put back into use-* There is a tendency to see anything native destroyed in this town. As chuch said, the building could be used- for the young ]yids, who are now sitting on street corners. Chester Garland then thanked fir. CooiVs for all his background informa' tion. He sia e had learned quite a hit today. But he said he dis- agreed i - agreed that there is a tendency to destroy anything related to the Indians. He continued that he felt he was speaking for the other Selectmen when he said that held love to see that building used. "It bothers us to-.think of losing the building, but it boils down to dollars and cents. If. we find a place where we can get~ the money ---I'm fairly c'ertai n it will cost $150 , 000 to put it in usable condition. I assure you JL is riot -the intent of any of us to team clown 'anything related to Indian culture ., Mr, B nw y: Our purpose is to save the building. our whole purpose in taking this action was to shod --it is only when something we cane about' is about to be lost that we come forward.