[MassHistPres] FW: Fwd: Windfarm near Copenhagen

[Tucker, Jonathan]

From: Tucker, Jonathan 
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 11:32 AM
To: 'Dcolebslade at aol.com'; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: RE: [MassHistPres] Fwd: Windfarm near Copenhagen

 

I encountered a similarly unexpected and beautiful wind farm atop a
craggy granite ridgeline south of the River Awe in the western Highlands
of Scotland, above the old drovers' town of Taynuilt.  There is a risk
involved in digging in heels on a project like Cape Wind-or any major
regional or local change which affects historic preservation.  If you
fail in your attempt to block the parade, the floats may run over you
and the marching bands tread on your face.  Which teaches the crowd
watching to ignore you next time.  Better to remain mobile, so you can
follow along the side of the parade, mingle in and out while
contributing useful criticism and trying to affect the character of
whatever's going to happen.

 

Local example:  We had a situation in Amherst in the last few years
where a developer got hold of a large, very important historic mansion
property on our main historic street, within spitting distance of the
Emily Dickinson Museum properties.  The developer subdivided the mansion
property with a bunch of frontage lots and managed to move another,
smaller historic house to a new lot on the side street frontage of the
property.  Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth that ensued.  The
developer then sold the whole thing to another developer, who moved two
more historic houses to lots on that same side street frontage.
Throughout this process, Amherst's Historical Commission (which had
demolition delay authority over the moving of each of the houses) tried
to walk a carefully balanced line.  They attempted to purchase the
remaining frontage lots.  They worked with the developer to save the new
old houses (all of which would have been demolished otherwise).  They
helped to influence the siting of the newly-moved old houses
(maintaining sightlines to the mansion) and develop a compatible
aesthetic for their landscaping.  They encouraged the developer to work
with the owners of an abutting twin mansion property to open up and
clear out neglected successional growth so that both mansions could be
seen from the main road for the first time in many decades.  And so on.
They did the quiet steady work which protected everybody's
interests-including the community's-to the greatest degree that those
interests could be protected, against a background of loud lamenting,
tossing of ashes, hurling of invective and dark accusation, and general
rending of garments by local absolutists trying to pursue a
change-nothing-ever policy in the guise of historic preservation.

 

The saga on this property is not yet complete, but the new old houses
already look like they've always been there, and, following renovation,
they were snapped up at high prices in the middle of the recession.
Meanwhile, thorough deed research by a local historian has demonstrated
showed that, during the period of development of this important historic
neighborhood (1830s-1880s), houses in the area were treated like
checkers and were moved all over the place, such much so that it could
be argued that the act of moving existing houses around has significant
historical precedence and meaning.

 

Continuing to stand out in the middle of the street, waving a brave red
flag of defiance after most of the parade has passed by and is
continuing on a block or two behind you . . . that may help reinforce
some peoples' sense of their own principled identity, but it doesn't do
anything useful for historic preservation.  It looks silly and it
marginalizes those who practice it.  And, too often, it marginalizes the
importance of historic preservation in the process.

 

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
Dcolebslade at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 9:31 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Fwd: Windfarm near Copenhagen

 

This is a photo of a wind farm near Copenhagen which we saw last summer.
We saw several others and those on the ship thought they were beautiful.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so they say, and probably should
not be the basis for a decision on such an important trade-off facing
preservationists.  

 

Betty Slade

Westport

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