[MassHistPres] Quonset Razed

[Chris Skelly]

This was certainly a very unfortunate loss.  While there may be some that
felt a modest mid 20th Century resource was disposable, there are many of us
in the preservation field that were deeply concerned about losing this
building and what options existed to preserve it.  

 

Unfortunately, historic preservation when the bulldozer's engine is humming
simply doesn't work.  In my job at MHC, these are the phone calls I dread
the most.  Last minute, reactionary, historic preservation efforts are
rarely successful.  Successful historic preservation requires planning and
planning takes time.  

 

This demolition speaks to the limited options when an MHC inventory form is
not available, when a national register eligibility opinion cannot be
provided due to lack of information, when a demolition delay bylaw isn't in
place, when no prior public education has been done, when local officials
have no interest as well as others.  Go down the list of all the options
and, short of a miracle, you would need time for all of them.  

 

While it is too late for this resource, there are many lessons to be learned
here.  Chris

Christopher C. Skelly 
Director of Local Government Programs 
Massachusetts Historical Commission 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of cvwtc at aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 12:08 AM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Quonset Razed

 

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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