[MassHistPres] Town Hall privy

[Barbara Search]

How interesting.  Saving it in some way would be unique. I live on a lake
with a few privies still standing, but of course not functioning. Living in
a neighboring town I am aware of the uniqueness of your Town Hall
Brimfield is also unique given your huge flea market and the historic
Hitchcock Academy. So much in a small town.  I don't have any suggestions
except to pursue the effort, and, good luck.

Barbara  A. Search
Sturbridge

On Thu, Jan 23, 2025 at 9:22 AM Michael Tubin via MassHistPres <
masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:

> 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
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> Regards,
>
> Michael
>
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> *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.
>
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> 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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