[MassHistPres] Town Hall privy

[mjtubin at verizon.net]

Mike 

if the privy is excavated, based on artifacts/trash you may be able to
determine how long it has been there---a little gross but may provide some
answers

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Michael

 

From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> On Behalf Of
augiedef--- via MassHistPres
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2025 12:11 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Town Hall privy

 

I'm looking for any advice or suggestions regarding how the Brimfield
Historical Commission might be able to address an issue with a potentially
historic feature of our Town Hall. There is currently a project underway to
develop plans to renovate the building and add on a new addition. As part of
the project, the existing 1932 addition to the building will first be
demolished because of structural issues. We accept that premise. However,
that addition includes a 2-seat privy, a feature which I imagine not many
Town Halls in the state share. We would like to see it kept and relocated
somewhere in the renovated building, given its uniqueness. The design folks
and building committee say that they can save the privy and then we can do
what we want with it but they won't include it in the renovated building
because it's not part of the original 1878 construction. Given that in 1932,
indoor plumbing was becoming fairly common, I question if the privy was a
new feature at that time or whether it already existed on the property and
was just moved into the 1932 addition. I can't find any plans or
documentation that provide information on that 1932 addition that would help
to understand its provenance.. Is this a reasonable "battle" to pursue or
should we just make the assumption that it was new in 1932 and find a
different location if we vote to keep it. 

 

I should also mention that this is still in the design stage and no official
town vote has yet been taken to actually move forward.

 

Mike DeFalco

Brimfield Historical Commission

 

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