[MassHistPres] solar panels in historic districts

[james hadley]

One can also ask - "How old is the Ise temple in Japan?" (look it up, it is a complicated question)
jh 



From: slater at alum.rpi.edu
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 11:53:23 -0700
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] solar panels in historic districts

> I find it interesting that you would prefer a solution that 
> looks better but is potentially worse for the future preservation of the 
> building; one complaint I hear a *lot* about HDCs is that they care about 
> preserving appearances rather than preserving actual history.

MGL is written in such a way that it emphasizes appearance over original historical pieces of building. It says "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the ordinary maintenance, repair or replacement of any exterior architectural feature within an historic district which does not involve a change in design, material, color or the outward appearance thereof".

If I want to reshingle my house, and put up shingles that are the same design, material, and color (if color is controlled), that does not fall under the control of the historic district commission. Emphasis is on change of design, material, or color. 

MGL also says that its Purpose is "to promote the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the public through the preservation and protection of the distinctive characteristics of buildings and places significant in the history of the commonwealth and its cities and towns or their architecture, and through the maintenance and improvement of settings for such buildings and places and the encouragement of design compatible therewith". Again, it emphasizes characteristics over original materials.

It's the age-old joke: "I have an axe that has been in my family for 200 years. The blade has been replace 5 times and the handle has been replaced twice". To me, although there is definitely value to having original materials, the main benefit is in the appearance of the property, so I don't shed a tear when someone re-shingles their house because houses were constructed in such a way that they were designed to be repaired, replacing things like shingles, parting beads, trim pieces, and even roofs. Even if every piece of a house has been changed over throughout the years, since it was done incrementally I think the house is still as "old" as the year it was built.


Ralph 
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