[MassHistPres] Alternate uses for Town-Owned Historic Homes

[Tucker, Jonathan]

If the historic house is, as described, "surrounded by about 100 acres
of conservation land", and that conservation land was acquired under
Article 97 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution, Norwell
may be premature in assuming that it can readily convert that
conservation land into a public cemetery.

 

Historic preservation funding has long been notoriously thin at the
state and federal level.  Community Preservation Act (CPA), when used
responsibly, is a critical source of funding for local historic
preservation projects.  It can only serve as "a private kitty for local
pols' favorite hobbies" if voters allow it, and if they do, they have no
one to blame but themselves.

 

As for thinking outside the box, isn't that where the results of
cremation end up?

 

Jonathan Tucker

Planning Director

Amherst Planning Department

4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall

Amherst, MA  01002

(413) 259-3040

tuckerj at amherstma.gov 

 

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of dmauch at verizon.net
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 6:28 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Alternate uses for Town-Owned Historic Homes

 

 

On May 14, 2009, at 5:13 PM, masshistpres-request at cs.umb.edu wrote:





 Alternate uses for Town-Owned Historic

                Homes

 

Thinking outside of the box is often a novel idea for many historic
commission members who do the best they can to maneuver around the
political minefields and quid pro quos.  But Wendy and her fellow board
members might well consider the fact that the house in question will
eventually sit in the middle of Norwell's new cemetery.  That said,
Norwell might take advantage of the fact that there are no crematories
between Quincy and Plymouth (just voted to build one) and appropriate
money to build one of these HIGHLY profitable, quient , and clean
facilities with a growing (baby-boom) market on the property and utilize
a portion of the proceeds to 1) maintain the house in perpetuity and 2)
utilize the house as an historical setting for reflection for the
families of the departed.  It's one thing to raid the CPA funds yet
again, but when people finally catch on that this is little more than a
private kittty for the local pols favorite hobbies, these funds will
eventually disappear.  Better to work towards long lasting, self-funded,
preservation initiatives that involve a little imagination instead of
taxpayer's money!

 

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