[MassHistPres] our town hall

[Walter Sherwood]

This where a Community Preservation Act (CPA) is important for each town. 
As it can earmark 1% - 3% of real estate assessments with 100% matching 
State funds it can make all the difference. The money has to spent defined 
goals one being preservation. Peabody Mass is a great example of this 
program. There are more knowledgeable Listing Members out there who may 
want to help clarify this.

Walter Sherwood



"Bourdon, Paul" <Paul.Bourdon at gtc-bio.com> 
Sent by: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
02/05/2008 06:34 AM


To
<masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>, <Winwilb at aol.com>
cc

Subject
Re: [MassHistPres] our town hall






I would like to respond to Mr. Wilbur's comments by saying, how can we 
expect individuals to bear the cost of preserving the architectural past 
if municipalities (where the cost is born by many) won't? 

> ----------
> From:                  masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu on behalf of 
Winwilb at aol.com
> Sent:                  Monday, February 4, 2008 8:39 PM
> To:            masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> Subject:               Re: [MassHistPres] our town hall
> 
> 
> Some thoughts on the many aspects of this issue from my son, a builder 
who 
> specializes in the renovation/restoration- and who believes in 
preservation, 
> but  raises some interesting related issues.
> Win Wilbur
> 
> 
> "This sounds like a continuance of our past conversation on this issue. 
I 
> think that Mr Hadley, as a preservationist, has his own ax to grind 
here. 
> Maintaining a base of  "knowledgeable woodworkers and painters as  part 
of the 
> preservation strategy for wood buildings" is certainly important,  and 
I'm not 
> trying to sound like a Republican, but on whose shoulders should  this 
fall?  The 
> taxpayers of MV? Additionally,  I'm no expert on the  foundation issue, 
but 
> have to wonder if this is to efficiently create additional  space at 
lower 
> additional cost or even perhaps to help make the building ADA compliant? 

> 
> 
> It's NOT true that Azek needs to be painted, although it only comes in 
> white. (Mr Hadley should check their website _http://www.azek.com_ 
> (http://www.azek.com/) ) but it does tend to  take paint better than 
new-growth wood, it comes 
> in longer lengths and thus  requires fewer joints, and can even be 
welded on 
> the joints, so that it needs no  caulk. It does expand and contract, and 
it 
> does so at about the rate that  softwood expands ACROSS THE GRAIN, but 
in length 
> as well. Modern architectural  coatings are made to accommodate this, in 

> fact, Sherwin Williams has a product  specifically for cellular PVC. You 
can 
> certainly go down the "it uses  fossil fuels" line of argument, but so 
does 
> purchasing, shipping and applying  coatings for years to come.
> 
> 
> Yes, there are differences between the look of aluminum clad windows and 
 the 
> original single glazed ones. But even most professional builders would 
be 
> hard pressed to tell the difference at 25 ft:  Marvin (and I assume KML, 
 which 
> is owned by Andersen) makes a 5/8" mullion with a putty glaze profile, 
and 
> they make literally dozens of extruded aluminum casing profiles - 
they'll even 
> match what you have in an existing building. In my 20+ years in the 
> renovation/restoration building business I've seen exactly one (1) 
client who  properly 
> maintains his wood windows and trim.  He lives on the water in  Cape 
> Elizabeth and has his painters inspect, repair, and touch up his house 
EVERY spring. 
> I've seen hundreds more who have NOT maintained their wood windows  and 
trim 
> and face very expensive repairs.
> 
> 
> For me it boils down to a compromise, or at least a trading of values: 
It 
> certainly makes sense to preserve "authentic" historical structures so 
that we 
> may learn from them in the future. Where it becomes less clear is where 
we 
> have  to accept the "real world" as it is:  This project is an excellent 
example: 
>  Is there the public will (in the form of additional tax dollars) to 
> preserve and then maintain an historical structure which must still be 
functional 
> and appropriate for a current public use?  Perhaps if Mr Hadley  wants 
to be a 
> purist it's better to sell the building to a private party who can  and 
will 
> maintain it (require an endowment?!), and then build a new  structure.
> 
> 
> >From my perspective it boils down to one fundamental issue:  Is the 
civil 
> society willing to pony up the additional funds to:
> A. Restore the existing structure including windows and exterior 
millwork
> B. Pay a premium on the construction and finishing cost of an  > 
> authentic-all-wood structure
> C. Maintain the restored structure and the new addition, probably 
needing 
> paint every two years given the greater porosity of new growth wood and 
the 
> lower level of protection provided by modern lead-free and Low-VOC 
compliant 
> architectural coatings.  In my experience public buildings are NOT 
generally 
> maintained properly, and thus suffer deterioration, as this structure 
apparently 
> has.
> D. Pay the additional amount it will cost to heat/cool a building that 
does 
> not have insulated glass? (Or is Mass Hist Pres suggesting wood storms - 

> another  maintenance nightmare)?
> E. Use the additional resources (i.e. burn the fossil fuel) required to 
heat 
> AND to scrape, prime, and paint the structure religiously.
> 
> 
> Is this the right way for society to spend its finite dollars?  Or ought 
we 
> be educating kids better, maybe taking them on a field trip to see the 
> preserved houses in town so they gain a sense of history and value what 
HAS been 
> saved.
> 
> 
> WOW, this has turned into a rant, but it is an issue I think about every 
 
> day. I totally believe in preservation (I grew up in Concord, I was a 
history 
> major, I work on old buildings) but we as a society have to maintain a 
balance. 
> Sort of like Cape Winds or the proposed wind farms on Maine's wilderness 
 
> trails  - which way do we go there?
> 
> 
> Food for thought... Michael
> 
> 
> Michael Wilbur, Willow Ledge Builders
> 
> 207.846.6944 office
> 207.671.3792 cell
> 
> 
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> 
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