[MassHistPres] FW: News from Preserve UMass

[Joseph Larson]

Op-ed: STATE FAULTS UMASS ON HISTORIC BUILDINGS

 

Five years have passed since the Amherst campus of the University of
Massachusetts was placed on the 2007 list of "The Ten Most Endangered
Historic Resources of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts". The campus
administration is preparing a historic celebration in 2013 to mark the 150th
anniversary of the founding of the Amherst flagship campus. But as that
preparation moves forward, UMass Amherst administrators have recently been
put on notice by Brona Simon, Executive Director of the Massachusetts
Historical Commission that the historic physical assets of the campus remain
at significant risk.

 

In response to a notice to the state Commission that the university intends
to demolish the 1899 Munson Hall Annex, Ms. Simon informed the university on
April 20 that this structure is eligible to be nominated as one of the
contributors to a potential National Historic District commemorating the
history of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMass Amherst).

 

Significantly, Ms. Simon goes further in her letter to note that "Many of
your recent submissions showed a number of campus structures in various
states of disrepair and neglect. These conditions could be considered
demolition by neglect (950 Code of Massachusetts Regulations 71.05(d)) and
are not acceptable means of stewardship for the many historically
significant structures located on this campus".

 

"Demolition by neglect" occurs when an owner of a historic structure
purposely cease to maintain a building in order to allow the structure to
self-destruct so that the owner can claim it is too expensive to repair.
Preserve UMass, a private group that has been working since 2007 to bring
the campus into compliance with state law and regulations on historic
buildings, has informed Ms. Simon that the neglect of state-listed buildings
on the UMass campus cannot be excused as an action of uninformed
administrators. In 2007 UMass officially adopted a policy to withhold
maintenance on a number of state-listed buildings. That policy is still in
effect and as such is evidence of official and purposeful sanction of
"demolition by neglect."

 

When the policy of neglect was adopted in 2007 the then UMass Vice
Chancellor of Administration and Finance stated at a general staff meeting
"I don't know why New Englanders are so enamored of old buildings. Where I
come from we tear them down and build new ones." In small groups she made it
known that she would let the roofs fall in and then demolish the buildings.

 

In her letter Ms. Simon has requested the university to conduct an
alternatives analysis and feasibility study to seek ways that Munson Annex
can be put to use to meet modern needs. She also notes that the university
has practiced delay and a lack of proactive planning with respect to its
historic structures. She recommends that the university develop preservation
action plans for the historic buildings.

 

Preserve UMass has informed Ms. Simon that, in their opinion, the campus
administration needs to immediately:

 

1. Withdraw the 2007 policy of "demolition by neglect".

 

2. Develop a Preservation Action Plan for the entire campus. This should
done using process open to the campus community and the general public, as
has been done in the current development of the Campus Master Plan.

 

3. Undertake a study of the potential for adaptive reuse of Munson Annex. 

 

There needs to be an immediate commitment to all three of these steps to
ensure that these issues do not detract from the otherwise worthy nature of
the 2013 celebration of the history of UMass Amherst.

 

Joseph S. Larson, Pelham

Corresponding Secretary, Preserve UMass

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20120519/c726549a/attachment-0001.htm>