[MassHistPres] Quonset Razed

[cvwtc at aol.com]

 Despite the best efforts of Richard Symmes and Matt Pujo, the veteran village Quonset hut was demolished on the morning of Feb. 11, 2010.  Many individuals, preservation groups and foundations, politicians, corporations and veterans groups were contacted but few of them even bothered to respond to their pleas for help.  Delta Electronic of Beverly was the only corporation to offer some money.  Wendy Price of Historic New England was the only person from an historic organization who kept in contact with the preservationists and actively participated in the effort to save the hut.  Local historical societies and commissions showed no interest in even documenting this rare structure.

When a building that was designed to be moved (and was likely the last intact example of a civilian hut) cannot be saved, then something is wrong with preservation in New England.  The Circuit Rider program did not live up to its glowing description.  Several preservationists who seemed concerned about this building's fate failed to even return phone calls despite the dire nature of this situation.  Corporate sponsors of preservation groups did not respond in a favorable manner when asked for assistance.

Many in the historic community felt a building this modern and "unattractive" was not worth saving but it's this stuffy attitude on what is historic and what isn't that will be the death of the preservation movement.  Sadly, not even the well-preserved metal shell of the building could be salvaged to maintain the collection of preserved military Quonset huts at the Seabee Museum.

 
Ignorance, apathy and greed won.  When confronted about the demolition of the civilian Quonset hut, one Hamilton elected official wrote in an e-mail, "I do not feel any guilt or shame for doing nothing...If you were interested in saving this building, you should have bought it."

Thank you to all those who did understand why this building was historically valuable.  Maybe some lessons can be learned from this loss.



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