our commonwealth (pm newsletter), march 2009

8/14/2019 Our Commonwealth (PM Newsletter), March 2009

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Our Commonwealth - March News From Preservation Massachusetts

Our CommonwealthPreservation Across Massachusetts

March 20

In This IssueContribute to Our Commonwealth

Circuit Rider News

How Can our Commonwealth serve

you?

A Day In the Life of a Circuit Rider

From Beacon to Capitol Hill

Where are they Now? CentralCongregational Church

Where Are They Now? Fairhaven Mills

Mark Your Calendar!

Greetings!

Greetings!

Erin Kelly & I have just returned from Washington DC where, this past

Tuesday, we spent the day lobbying the Massachusetts Congressional

Delegation for a variety of preservation initiatives, both locally and

nationally. Normally there are more than two of us meeting with the

Massachusetts Delegation, but in these difficult economic times, travel

and hotel expenses can be a show stopper. Luckily, with family

connections in the DC area, we were able to keep our expenses down

considerably this year.

PM has made a concerted effort to continually lobby both State and

Federal preservation initiatives. This year, because we were only two, I

scheduled eight appointments, realizing that there are only so many

hours in a day. We made a strong effort to not only meet with staff but

personally with the individual Representatives. We actually met with

Congressmen McGovern, Neal and Tierney as well as with relatively

new Congresswoman Tsongas. Our other meetings with staff included:

Congressmen Lynch, Delehunt, Capuano and Markey. We also stopped

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Preservation Massachusetts

Board of Directors

Claudia S. Wu - Chair

Jack Hodgkins -Vice Chair

Douglas Kelleher - Clerk

Phil A. Madonia- Treasurer

James G. Alexander, FAIA

Pamela Bailey

Daniel R. Benoit

Thomas F. Birmingham

Jean Carroon, FAIA

Kara Cicchetti

Stuart Gregerman

Frank T. Keefe

Todd McCabe

James McDermott

Michael H. Rosenberg

Yanni Tsipis

Rita Walsh

Fran Weld

StaffJames W. Igoe

President

Erin D. A. Kelly

Assistant Director

Anulfo G. Baez

Office Manager

Elsa Fitzgerald

Special ProjectsManager

Lorelle Carlson

Intern

Circuit Riders

In Parnership with the National

Trust for Historic Preservation

Michele P. Barker

Anne Dodge

Dorr Fox

by and visited with an old college classmate of mine, Congressman Pet

Welch, the only representative in Vermont and an avid preservationist.

Because the President's Budget was not yet out, the Federal Tax Credit

initiatives were not as clearly delineated as in the past. We were able to

discuss our efforts in advocating for the MA State Historic Tax Credit

and our economic overview of the credit that PM is currently in the

stages of finalizing. One of the benefits of our State credit is that it

leverages federal dollars by being able to "piggyback" with the Federalhistoric tax credit. In a FY08 annual report, the National Park Service

has ranked Massachusetts number two in the nation for use of the

Federal credit. With certified expenses of $324,940,381 over 58

projects, we are just a mere $50,000 behind Missouri, with 134 projects

worth of expenses.

From PM's position it was a great trip! It is so important to have the

strong relationship with our Congressional Delegation and the contacts

necessary to provide strong advocacy for important Federal preservatio

matters.

A Day in the Life of a Circuit Rider: Dorr Fox

For the past ten months I have been

traveling around SoutheastMassachusetts helping people with thei

historic preservation projects, many

pertaining to possible demolition of

historic structures. All of these

buildings are special and certainly wort

preserving. One spectacular example i

Norwood High School, a Colonial

Revival gem designed in 1925 by

William P. Upham. As an architect

based in Norwood, Mr. Upham isresponsible for many of the town's

prominent buildings in addition to man

collegiate structures throughout New

England. Norwood High School was intended to be and remains one of

the showcase buildings within the community.

Unfortunately, in recent years there has been an organized effort by

municipal officials to demolish Norwood High School and replace it

with a more contemporary school based upon the design of Whitman-

Hanson High School. The new school would be located on the existing



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Support Preservation

Massachusetts!

Preservation Massachusetts is

entirely supported by our

Corporate and Individual

Members and Foundations.

Find out about Corporate

benefits, events, programs

and take an active role in

preserving our Commonwealth.

Join today!www.preservationmass.org

Who Are The Circuit Riders?

Interested about leaning more

about our Circuit Riders? Find

out which one is a published

author, or is researching motels

along Route 66 or which one

grew up in a neighborhood

designed by Mies Van Der Rohe

by visiting our site.

Did you know? Preservation

Massachusetts is on...

sports fields and the old school will be destroyed to provide new fields.

Is it necessary to demolish buildings in order to accommodate new

technology? A new building could be obsolete in ten years, the same

way an historic school is considered to be obsolete now.

The issue of demolishing historic schools is a common concern for

preservationists in many states. Some school districts often feel

compelled to have the most technologically advanced facilities in their

town, and the architectural significance of their schools is not even aconcern. In Massachusetts there have been several threats to historic

schools which in recent years led to the loss of Auburn High School. In

spite of preservation losses like Auburn High School, there have also

been success stories like Fairhaven, Brookline and East Boston High

Schools. These schools are representation of the ability to bridge new

technologies with historic preservation efforts therefore depleting the

validity of arguments against renovation and restorations initiatives.

There are many reasons for preserving historic schools. The visible

landscape without diversity and architectural beauty leaves much to be

desired. Historic schools such as Norwood High School provide citizen

with an irreplaceable sense of community pride and visual satisfaction.

Environmentally, the "greenest" building is the one that the community

does not have to build. The demolition of schools and other historic

structures increases the amount of material that is placed into landfills.

Economically, studies in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania havedemonstrated that it can be less costly to renovate existing schools than

build new ones. For students and educators alike a building which

possesses vast architectural beauty further stimulates learning

experiences and creativity.

The proposal to demolish Norwood High School is scheduled to come

up for discussion this month at Town Meeting. Following the meeting

Norwood voters will have the opportunity to vote on the issue when it

appears on the ballot in April. I hope that the voters of Norwood

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Check us out online as we strive

to take preservation across

Massachusetts!

Contribute to Our

Commonwealth

Is there an

event,

conference,

alert or

success story

that needs to

be heard?

Contact abaez@preservationmass.

org about putting notices out in

our electronic newsletter!

We encourage your thoughts and

feedback on this latest

communication venture. Let us

know what you think. After all it

is Our Commonwealth!

Circuit Rider News!

Our own

Western

Massachusetts

Circuit

RiderMichele

Barker has

had her

book listed

on the

International

Reading Association's list of

"Notable Books for a Global

Society"! Her first novel,A

Difficult Boy is available on

consider the negative impact that demolition will have on the visual and

historical integrity of their community.

The Model Policies for Preserving Historic Schools article is a great

source of inforamtion! The Old School Approach is an insightful article

published in the March/April 2009 Preservation Online Magazine.

Dorr Fox is the Circuit Rider for Southeastern, Massachusetts,

Cape Cod and the Islands. The Circuit Rider Program is in partnership

with The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

From Beacon to Capitol Hill: Preservation Massachusetts

Lobbies DC

Preservation

Massachusetts President

Jim Igoe and Assistant

Director Erin Kelly

traveled to Washington

DC earlier this week to

participate in Preservatio

Advocacy and Lobby

Day. Preservation

partners from all across

the country gather to lear

about Federal initiatives

that impact each of our states and press for improvements and funding

for existing preservation programs. A two-day event includes a day of

Federal legislative briefing followed by a whirlwind day of meetingswith our congressional delegation.

With a new administration in the White House and national focus on th

huge economic stimulus package, most federal legislation is still vague

The President's Budget, usually filed in early to mid February and the

benchmark for determining federal interest in our programs, is still

pending. Regardless, PM joined our national partners in rallying suppo

for preservation. Programs we lobbied for included improvements to th

Federal Historic Tax Credit that will make the credit more functional fo

small projects, deepening the program for distressed and disinvestedareas and providing an incentive for energy efficient restorations.

PM also sought increased funding for our State Historic Preservation

Offices, which includes funds for the digitalization of records. Funding

increases for Save America's Treasures' program and the Preserve

America programs were discussed, especially since the Preserve

America line item had been zeroed out in an FY 08 budget.

PM met with eight congressional offices (including four Representative

personally) and even had an impromptu meeting with sole Vermontttp://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/visua...p?agent.uid=1102458615673&format=html&print=true (4 of 7) [3/19/2009 11:46:29 AM]
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Amazon and through book

retailers nationwide.

Read Michele's Blog here!

How can Our

Commonwealth serve you?

How can Our Commonwealth

serve you?

PM wants to know what you

would like Our Commonwealth

to be.

-More articles

-Before and After pics

-Emerging Issues

-Statewide updates

-How to be a local advocate-Legislative newsLet us know what YOU

want to know!

Congressman. Discussion focused not only on Federal legislation as

well as our state programs. Massachusetts is lucky to have a delegation

that has always been extremely supportive of historic preservation, and

armed with some of our state tax credit economic impact numbers, wer

able to impress upon them how preservation creates jobs, revitalizes

communities and is a sustainable building practice.

As always, the trip was extremely important and beneficial to PM, as w

continue to rally support around preservation initiatives here inMassachusetts.

Where are they Now? Most Endangered Resources Update!

On the Auction Block: Central Congregational Church, Fall

River, Listed 1993

Built in 1874-1875 in a Victorian Gothic Revival style, the Centra

Congregational Church was listed in 1993 as one of Massachusett

Most Endangered Historic Resources. The Church was purchased

in 1997 by the International Institute of Culinary Arts and

rehabilitated into a culinary teaching facility. The Institute is

going into foreclosure and auction on March 24th 2009 possibly

jeopardizing the future of this National Register listed property.

Photo Courtesy: Marc N. Belanger

Where are they Now? Most Endangered Resources Update!

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To Be Demolished: Fairhaven Mills, New Bedford, Listed 2005

Listed as endangered in 2005, the mill sits prominently on the banks o

the AcushnetRiver and is often the first building people see as they

travel through the city on Rt. 195, an unofficial gateway to the city. It

is a remnant of the whaling city's proud industrial heritage. The Child

Labor Reform laws of the early 20th century were spurred on by

photographs of workers at Fairhaven Mills, taken by Louis Hines. In

2005, a Home Depot development deal proposed to sacrifice the mill

for parking spaces and did not consider utilizing the mill as potential

retail space. In 2007 the mill was up for re-evaluation by the New

Bedford Historical Commission at the urging of City Council, to pave the way for demolition. In late 2008 the

rumblings of demolition could be heard again. Recent public hearings on the mill's future highlight the work

done to find a developer, anchor tenant and numbers that work, but all for not. The developer who recently

acquired Fairhaven Mills is certain the mill will be demolished, but timetable is uncertain. And what will take

the place of this gateway to New Bedford? On Wednesday March 4, 2009, the City of New Bedford voted 3-4

to demolish Fairhaven Mills.

Please find the following article and opinions for more information.

Historical Commission gives go-ahead to tear down Fairhaven Mills

'Facadectomy' for Fairhaven Mills

Fairhaven Mills a redevelopment asset

Fairhaven Mills, made famous in child labor photos, should not be demolished

Mark Your Calendar!

Cape Cod Preservation ConferenceThursday April 02, 2009

Harwich Community Center

Workshops on Community Preservation Act and Demolition Delay

Sponsored by the Cape Cod Commission, Preservation Massachusetts, and the

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Please visit our website for more information

*********************************************************

Preservation Massachusetts 2009 Annual Awards DinnerWednesday May 6th, 2009

Join us at the Fairmont Copley Plaza for the 22nd Annual Awards Dinner.

Stay tuned for information on ticket sales, 2009 Awardees and volunteering opportunities!

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**********************************************************The Trustees of Reservations

19th Annual Massachusetts Land Conservation ConferenceSaturday, March 28, 2009

8AM - 4:45PM

Worcester Technical High School

Worcester, MA

30+ Workshops For:

Land trust volunteers and staff

Conservation commissioners

Open space, community preservation, and historic preservation committee members

Elected officials, watershed associations, and anyone else interested in protecting and caring for

Massachusetts landscapes and landmarks

Complete List of Workshops and Registration Information at:

www.Massconservation.org Questions? [email protected] or 978.840.4446 x1905

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eservation Massachusetts | Old City Hall | 45 School Street | Boston | MA | 02108
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our commonwealth (pm newsletter), march 2009

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