First Parish Gets an Environmental Makeover in Preparation for its Bicentennial in 2017

The new vault will be located alongside First Parish,long Elm Street — Along the Elm Street side of First Parish – Courtsey image (c) Karl Winkler, 2016 all rights reserved

Submitted by Karl Winkler and the First Parish Energy Conservancy Task Force

Looking toward the front of Bedford Common - Courtesy image (c) Karl Winkler, 2016 all rights reserved — Looking toward the front of Bedford Common – Courtesy image (c) Karl Winkler, 2016 all rights reserved

First Parish, Bedford’s historic 199-year-old meeting house on Bedford Common, is in the midst of an environmental make-over as it prepares to celebrate the building’s Bicentennial in 2017.

The newly-fenced area along the Elm Street side of First Parish isn’t for a swimming pool or an underground parking garage. Instead the excavation will create space for an underground vault to hold and hide modern, ultra-efficient heating and air conditioning equipment that will significantly reduce the building’s operating costs and energy footprint.

The new HVAC equipment, along with restoration of the sanctuary’s 199-year-old Windows, installation of new storm windows, and 9 to 24 inches of new hard pack insulation are projects in process, with additional projects to be announced through the coming year by the First Parish Energy Conservancy Task Force.