[MassHistPres] Demolition of Old Store in Historic Registration District

[Jenn Doherty]

We recently had a similar situation in Westborough. As Ralph said,
persuasion may be your best bet.

In the 1930s an 1840s house, known as the Spurr House, and a
newly-constructed high school (now municipal building) were donated to the
town. The house sits directly behind the municipal building and squares off
the municipal building's lot. Both buildings are in the center of town, but
are largely surrounded by residential buildings; the house itself is part
of a great mid-19th century streetscape. For years the town had allowed the
Historical Society and the American Legion to use the house; the Historical
Society left a number of years ago, and the American Legion this past
November. The BoS and town manager have apparently been eyeing the house
for a parking lot for some time, and began "mothballing" the house over the
winter without much fanfare. However, when they shut off the heat and
electricity, they also shut off the fire safety system, which was not rated
for below 32 degrees. The fire chief had a few things to say about this...

The neighbors were also alerted to the situation and began to organize.
They put a citizen's petition on the spring Town Meeting warrant for the
creation of a committee "to study the ultimate disposition of the Spurr
House." This passed, and a group of five town residents was chosen. Over
the summer they examined all angles, and last week at fall Town Meeting
presented their recommendation that the house be marketed for sale for 18
months; after that, the town can do what they like with the house. The
committee also considered demolishing the whole building, demolishing part
(a connected rear barn), selling it to be moved, buying another piece of
property nearby for parking, etc. Even though the BoS, town manager, and
library (across the street from the buildings) were advocating for the
parking, the committee's recommendation easily passed, and the BoS asked
for no action on their article for $50,000 to demolish the building.

The study committee worked hard to speak to many different people involved
around town, and it was clear that many people did not see an immediate
need for parking or the house's demolition; that was solely coming from the
BoS/town manager. Ask around, you might find that people value the store a
lot more than they let on, and that they would be willing to help save the
building, or at least support giving it some time.

Jenn Doherty
Westborough Historical Commission


*Jennifer B. Doherty*
Historic Preservation Consultant
(508) 259 0578
jbdpreservation.com

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 10:05 AM, Ralph Slate <slater at alum.rpi.edu> wrote:

> If Federal (CDBG, brownfield) funds are ‎being used in this project,
> wouldn't a Section 106 review be required? If so, that could make the town
> use local funds to do the work, making the work less palatable.
>
> Beyond that, your only power is that of persuasion. That can be political
> persuasion or trying to capture the public sentiment. Raise awareness and
> maybe someone will step up and purchase the building from the town.
> Convince the town to throw in the money they would have spent on
> demolishing the property to keep it as a tax-producing property.
>
> Ralph Slate
> Springfield Historical Commission
>
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
>   Original Message
> From: Cathy Roth
> Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2015 9:44 AM
> To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> Subject: [MassHistPres] Demolition of Old Store in Historic Registration
>       District
>
>
> Hello fellow Historical Preservationists,
>
> We have a building in our National Historic Registration District
> that was previously the Town of Middlefield’s General Store. It is
> about 100 years old. It has been abandoned for about a decade
> and has had brownfield remediation undertaken by DEP during the last
> 2-3 years to address soil contamination from gas pumps removed from
> the site 20 years ago or more. The building abuts a residential home which
> is from the same historic era and was abandoned at the same time by the
> owner.
>
> The Town is in the process of taking the property for upwards of $200,000
> in back taxes. While not public yet, the Selectboard is moving towards
> demolition
> of the store and possibly re-use of the residence. An engineer brought in
> by the
> S.B. and the building inspector have indicated that the store building is
> not worth saving.
> The Middlefield Heritage Society is interested in having the town repair
> and re-use the
> building.
>
>
> I understand that being under the National Register designation does not
> prevent
> demolition. Have any of you suggestions for how we might proceed to keep
> this historic
> building from being torn down?
> Many thanks,
> Cathy Roth,
> Previous President, Middlefield Heritage Society
>
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