Southborough Historical Society
Preserving Our Past for Your Future
Ladies and Gentlemen of Good Will and Strong Backs:
Tomorrow is empty the trailer day, when we finally return the collection to the Museum. We need five or six more people to help us 9-2ish. Come for any part of this, or the long haul. Work will require carrying boxes, moving furniture etc so volunteers must be able and willing.
Please email me at michael dot weishan at southboroughhistory dot org if you can come, or are nominating a willing child, partner or spouse.
Given the argument above on the fluidity of Town board makeup, would you commit now to placing a preservation restriction to protect the exterior of Fayville Town Hall before it is sold? If not, why not?
I am in favor of protecting the Historic Fayville Village Hall and believe we can do it in a way that preserves the building and allows the town to receive a fair price for the building and land. Town Meeting has made it clear more than once that protecting this building is a high priority. I will recommend that we work with the Historical Commission to engage the services of a consultant knowledgeable in Historical Properties Real Estate to guide us as we develop the RFP. I believe that there can be benefit drafting the RFP to include the requirement that a Preservation Restriction be placed on Fayville Hall by the purchaser, which could provide them with tax benefits. These are complicated issues which is why I recommend we engage the services of an expert.
Study after study has shown that taxes on single family homes don’t cover their cost to the Town, and each new build actually contributes to higher rates for everyone. Given that, what would you propose to limit further development and increase the quality of life for current residents?
This is a complicated question –
First, we need development to meet our future as our society and needs change and to provide for a robust economy. Additionally, property owners have a right to full value of their property under our zoning code bylaws. I am not in favor of taking away property rights or curtailing development.
We also know that healthy communities need open space. A recent economic study in Marlborough found that business owners list open space and trails as the number one amenity they are looking for when considering which towns to locate in. Marlborough’s Economic Development Corporation was surprised by this but then moved to help create trails that connected to local businesses and parks.
Open space and a healthy economy can certainly go hand in hand.
As an Open Space Commissioner for 12 years and current Chair I am in favor of protecting the most important open spaces in town. However, we know we can’t afford to protect it all, which is why the Open Space Preservation Commission works on prioritizing which parcels have the most value as open space.
If the majority of home-owners in a particular area of Town favored the creation of an historic district, would this have your support?
Absolutely, Kate Matison spoke in much detail at a meeting of St. Marks Golf Course Master Plan Committee. I think it enhances our Town and makes it more desirable.
Would you support the Town acquiring any open parcels that come out of agricultural use to prevent their development?
I don’t believe the Town should purchase land to prevent development, I am not against development. Some parcels of land, however are more important than others to be protected based on the open space value. Recently the Open Space Preservation Commission has included a focus on agricultural lands as an added priority, of particular concern are prime farmland soil which is a valuable and quickly disappearing asset. Our beautiful hay fields are also a priority for a visual connection to our rural heritage and important habitat for grassland birds they provide. Species like the bobolink are disappearing from our landscape due to the lack of habitat.
The Open Space and Recreation Plan, which is approved by both the Selectman and the State has a comprehensive list of priority parcels for preservation. The Open Space Preservation Commission evaluates open space parcels based on their agricultural, historical, passive recreational, wildlife habitat values and scenic views when deciding which parcels to prioritize. Preventing development is never a consideration.
What other ideas do you have to promote and protect the historic nature of Southborough?
First I believe people will protect that which they are familiar with, so I am in favor of creating a town wide trail that visits our historical properties with markers or links to a virtual map that identifies the history behind the many buildings and places that the average citizen may not be aware of. Potentially calling it the Southborough History Trail. This concept was discussed during the effort to preserve the Burnett House.
I also have heard that Deb Costine has led talks on the History of the Burnett Family and I think we need more activities like this.
Once people are more knowledgeable about Southborough’s History it will be easier to promote preservation.
What plans might you suggest to revitalize the Main Street area economically and aesthetically once the road improvements are done?
Great questions. Unfortunately, the Main Street reconstruction is only being upgraded to Latisquama Rd. and not our downtown.
I propose working with the Planning Board and the Economic Development Committee to brainstorm on what can be done to upgrade the infrastructure in our downtown. A lot can be done to make it aesthetically pleasing, the road needs to be redone, brick sidewalks, imitation gas lights, flower plantings, benches and maybe a pocket park. A more aesthetically pleasing downtown would bring more people to the area which would make the area a more desire location for businesses. I would look into what grant funding is available to help fund these improvements.
And finally, if plans were developed for a cultural corridor linking the Library, the Old Burial Ground, the Museum, the Town House, St Marks church and the cemetery, would you be generally supportive of such an idea?
Yes, that section of our Town is so historic and beautiful it would be wonderful to see the area be better utilized. I would take it further and I would recommend a larger trail system as described above.
Mr. Parry is the second candidate to reply. Here are his answers. Eds
1) Given the argument above on the fluidity of Town board makeup, would you commit now to placing a preservation restriction to protect the exterior of Fayville Town Hall before it is sold? If not, why not?
Fayville hall should have preservation restrictions on its facade. That would ensure it is saved forever, by future owners, not by one owner., and then destroyed. That warrant article was NOT thought through properly.by the Selectmen. Had the article been worded differently from the start, by the Selectmen, with Preservation Restrictions , I am confident it would have been overwhelmingly approved. There is simply no strong leadership on the Bd of Selectmen to preserve our heritage. The notion that a preservation restriction reduces the value of a building is simply not true. In many cases they increase the buildings value, through prestige value. There are many builders potentially interested in this building with preservation restrictions on it, permanently. Fayville Hall deserves protection just as much as downtown Southborough Main street buildings. It is not a second class neighborhood.
2) Study after study has shown that taxes on single family homes don’t cover their cost to the Town, and each new build actually contributes to higher rates for everyone. Given that, what would you propose to limit further development and increase the quality of life for current residents.
Please see my answer under 4
3) If the majority of home-owners in a particular area of Town favored the creation of an historic district, would this have your support.
Yes
4) Would you support the Town acquiring any open parcels that come out of agricultural use to prevent their development
Yes open space should be purchased whenever possible, because single family homes produce so many schoolchildren, and school education. takes 3/4 of our budget. The key is to purchase the most visible and attractive parcels…. Those which add scenic value to our town., such as the golf course (which we just did), or open which is good for recreation. Then we get more “bang for the buck”. There is far less point in purchasing steep and Rocky or wet , wild land which is hidden from public view …we have to very selective because we have limited funds.
5) What other ideas do you have to promote and protect the historic nature of Southborough?
Please see my answer under 6 below
6) What plans might you suggest to revitalize the Main Street area economically and aesthetically once the road improvements are done?
The question relates to how we can improve on the design for the rebuilding of historic Main St. The key missing design element , or feature, critical to making Main St historically accurate and far more attractive is the following: REMOVAL OF THE UGLY UTILITY POLES AND OVERHEAD CABLES.
Many other towns have accomplished this. For instance, Hudson, Marlborough, Shrewsbury etc …thousands in all. Now imagine what future generations will say when the street is rebuilt but the incredibly ugly poles and cables remain, they will say …”What were they thinking? They had the opportunity, and the did not even try! What a shame.”
I want residents in 100 years time to look back at us and say: ” They had the foresight to accomplish an incredible plan when they had the opportunity. ” That is OUR job now…to wake up before it is too late , and grasp this opportunity.
Another missing element to the Main Street redesign is the design for the downtown commercial block. Where the railroad crosses the road. This deserves special treatment for sidewalks and lighting, benches, canopies, and landscaping. I believe that the business owners themselves should be put n charge, with technical assistance. Let the business owners themselves entertain the possible treatments, and then propose a solution for wider public review. I am confident they will do a fantastic job because the know all about retailing , and they have huge self interest in making this core block a big success.
Now that is REAL local participation.
7) And finally, if plans were developed for a cultural corridor linking the Library, the Old Burial Ground, the Museum, the Town House, St Marks church and the cemetery, would you be generally supportive of such an idea?
Yes
We will publish results from the other candidates as we receive them. Eds.
1. Given the argument above on the fluidity of Town board makeup, would you commit now to placing a preservation restriction to protect the exterior of Fayville Town Hall before it is sold? If not, why not?
Yes.
2. Study after study has shown that taxes on single family homes don’t cover their cost to the Town, and each new build actually contributes to higher rates for everyone. Given that, what would you propose to limit further development and increase the quality of life for current residents?
The Advisory Committee did such a study several years ago, confirming that additional residential development likely results in a net cost to the Town. Because development is largely controlled by the Town’s zoning bylaws (managed by the Planning Board), modification of the development process is something that starts with the Planning Board. I support a Planning Board initiative to update the zoning bylaws, which can address growth and other issues. The Selectmen
can collaborate with the Planning Board on such an initiative.
Additionally, the Selectmen can help manage the Town’s exposure to “unfriendly” 40B housing projects by smart planning to meet our Housing Plan objectives. Using monies in the Housing Trust Fund we can work with developers and/or nonprofits to create “friendly” 40B housing projects so we can meet our housing obligations through a process the Town controls, instead of reacting to developer proposals.
3. If the majority of home owners in a particular area of Town favored the creation of an historic district, would this have your support?
I support this concept. I would need to see the specific details of such a proposal before I can support a particular proposal.
4. Would you support the Town acquiring any open parcels that come out of agricultural use to prevent their development?
I support the preservation of open space in the Town. The challenge is to find a way to fund the acquisition of (or acquisition of the development rights to) such property. The Town needs to work with the Open Space Preservation Commission (OSPC) to see that the limited resources for such purchases are aligned with the OSPC prioritization of available properties.
5. What other ideas do you have to promote and protect the historic nature of Southborough?
The Selectmen can support the Historical Commission and the Planning Board to develop a plan for historic preservation and priorities.
6. What plans might you suggest to revitalize the Main Street area economically and aesthetically once the road improvements are done?
The Town could consider creating a zoning overlay district to permit mixed-use structures in the downtown area. This could provide additional commercial/professional space as well as residential use.
7. And finally, if plans were developed for a cultural corridor linking the Library, the Old Burial Ground, the Museum, the Town House, St Marks church and the cemetery, would you be generally supportive of such an idea?
I would be generally supportive of this concept. I would need to see the specific details of such a proposal before I can support a particular proposal.
In case you were not able to attend the annual meeting this past Saturday, here is a recap of my presentation about the current and future direction of the Society.
Faced with severe challenges, things looked pretty grim in the summer of 2016. The Museum building was closed for mold remediation after a flood; the membership had fallen to dangerously low levels, and the Society was faced with a serious financial shortfall.
But from darkness, light: Over the past year, the SHS has gained a new, pro-active board dedicated to bringing the Society into the 21st century. The work began by introducing a set of new, streamlined by-laws that better reflect the realities of today’s volunteer organizations; completing the flood and mold remediation of the entire interior and the collections; and re-inventing the storage and exhibit space to better utilize both the building and the artifacts.
But a collection is just a bunch of objects until it’s used to tell a story: our story.
With the introduction of affordable flat screens over the last decade, there has been a revolution in the way small museums are able to interpret their collections. The Society intends to embrace this new technology with gusto, with plans to secure grants in 2017 to purchase the screens and create new, digital interactive displays with rotating special exhibits. These exhibits will showcase objects in our collections, and will be designed to work equally well in the museum, in the classroom, and online.
For 2017 and 2018, the Society will focus on three aspects of Southborough history that have greatly influenced the way we live today.
The first was the coming of the railroad to Southborough. The Boston to Worcester line is the second oldest in the country, dating to 1835, and brought about dramatic change in the way people viewed themselves and the world. In a single year, Southborough left the 18th century and headed for the 20th.
Our second theme will focus on women and domestic life in the 19th century. Southborough was the second most productive agricultural land in the state by the 1870s, and most residents lived and worked on farmsteads tended by women. The days were long, and unbelievably hard — a fact little appreciated by the youth of today. We’re going to be taking a look back at what it took to tend a home, hearth and bring a meal to the table 150 years ago.
The museum and old burial ground sit adjacent to where once a Nipmuck village stood. The first peoples of this place, the Nipmucks, are almost entirely forgotten today, and deserve a more thorough look as the founders of the place we today call Southborough.
Finally, the Society Board is dedicated to bringing Heritage back to Heritage Day, and we’ll be organizing a set of activities in and outside the Museum to complement festivities on St. Marks Field.
Lastly, we are now once again in a position to accept volunteers. The first opportunity is May 13, empty the trailer day, when the remaining objects in our collection come out of storage. We need able backs and legs to help make this happen.
We have openings for 2-3 curatorial volunteers to prepare our photograph and paper collections for digitizing by the Boston Public Library in their Digital Commonwealth Project. The work is Mac-based using Filemaker, which is a pretty simple database program. The task is mainly assigning accession numbers to photos and transferring content information to the database. As the Historical Commission will be supervising this work, there is a possibility of a senior tax position as well.
We’re also looking for experienced editors and writers familiar with Word Press to edit and publish content on our website, including this blog.
And finally, in conjunction with myself and our new Treasurer, Rebecca Deans Rowe, we’re looking for people experienced in writing grant applications to help fund our activities.
It’s been a challenging but rewarding year. Let’s make the next even better!
With heartfelt thanks to everyone for their amazing support,
Michael Weishan,
President
Dear Friends,
It was a big win for historical preservation last night at Town Meeting. All the preservation CPC articles were funded, including those of the Society; the Adaptive Reuse Bylaw was passed with close to 90% agreement (a remarkable feat for a zoning regulation) and the Main Street Registrar District was funded. The only cloud on the horizon was the authorization to sell the historic Fayville Village Hall. The Selectmen, though pledging to work for preservation of the exterior, refused to commit to that in writing, and a last minute amendment to place a permanent preservation restriction on the building before sale (full disclosure – proposed by me, but advocated this past August by the Historical Commission) failed after the selectmen again argued it wasn’t necessary. (A preservation restriction would have preserved the restored facade and open space on the property in perpetuity. At present, the building has no such protection, and once sold, will be out of all Town control.) Admittedly the selectmen pledged transparency and full cooperation with the citizens in determining the fate of the parcels, but we currently have only their word – which has gotten me to thinking. How binding is the word of a board whose members may or may not be in place when final decisions are made on multi-year projects like this? Mr. Cimino is retiring, Mr. Rooney has already resigned, Mr. Kolenda is in a highly contested race for re-election, and Mrs Phaneuf is up next year, most likely before the disposition of Fayville Hall. So if there is no written guarantee, what do we have? There is also the issue of “executive session,” which has been used extensively by the Selectmen for recent real estate transactions, and excludes the public from deliberation. It’s pretty hard to be “transparent” behind closed doors.
It would seem to me then that now is the ideal time to ask the candidates running for Selectmen this May their views on historic preservation, which includes to my mind, preservation of historic landscapes and open space, preservation of historic buildings and townscapes, funding of future preservation projects, and the candidates’ opinions on how best to preserve the historic nature of Southborough. In that spirit I have framed seven questions for our candidates, and I have already extended an email invitation to each to share their views via the comment section.
TO THE CANDIDATES FOR SELECTMEN:
Among us is a wonderful photographer, Alan Bezanson, with a true eye. Your preservation dollars at work:
Dear Friends in History,
As part of our expanded mission to encourage historical preservation in Southborough, we wanted to make you aware that there are quite a number of questions at April 25th’s Town Meeting that have a direct effect on historical preservation in Southborough.
Articles 15 & 16 are requests from the Historical Society to finish the climate control work at the Flagg school, and to seek CPC funding for curatorial work on the collections. We’ve made vast strides since our flooding disaster, but we still have a long way to go. This year we will begin working with the Digital Commonwealth Project, digitizing the vast majority of our paper collections to make them widely available for the first time. The curatorial funds we are requesting are a critical step in this process.
Article 17 seeks funds to remove invasive species from the Breakneck Hill Conservation Land. These protected acres are an important part of our agricultural heritage, provide much needed recreational space, and deserve our active support.
Article 21 suggests raising the limit for tax support for our seniors from 1000 to 1500. This valuable program allows seniors to work off a part of their real estate taxes, and starting next year, the Historical Commission will open a slot for a senior to work on the Town’s Historical Records. This helps seniors, and helps the Town.
Article 24 opens the historic Fayville Town Hall to sale. The Historical Commission has voted to support this measure ONLY if the Town first approves Articles 26-30, Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings, proposed by the Historical Commission. The purpose of this bylaw is “to allow for and provide incentives for the adaptive reuse of Historical Buildings in a manner that ensures compatibility with their surroundings and that preserves their historical nature and appearance. This section is intended to promote the preservation of Historic Buildings by allowing Historic Buildings to be adapted for a purpose other than that for which they were originally built, thereby enhancing the community’s appearance and preserving Southborough’s architectural legacy for future generations.” The bylaw encourages reuse through various means, mainly by more ample interpretation of our existing zoning laws in order to support the reuse, rather than the demolition of historic structures. For example, if you have an old barn, you might consider installing a small rental unit to help pay the mortgage, or open that home-based business you’ve always dreamed of. Most importantly, this bylaw grants approval authority to the Planning Board (where it belongs) rather than to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which in previous years has proven capricious in its rulings. If Articles 26-30 pass, then the Fayville Town Hall (Article 24) can be converted into condos or retail or affordable housing. Without their passage, the Hall has no such protection.
Article 34, which was also proposed by the Historical Commission, seeks funds to at last complete the National Register District for the Main Street area. This is the final piece of a project that has been going on for almost 20 years with considerable investment of time and funding. When complete, the area will receive its designation from the US Secretary of the Interior. This naming has proven a critical preservation step in other communities, fostering restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures in the area, while providing positive support for property values.
Whew! Quite a line-up!
If you care about historical preservation in Southborough, this is not a meeting to miss!
Dear Friends,
Come to the Museum for our “soft” re-opening Saturday, April 29th. We’ll host our annual meeting from 4:00-4:30 to discus renovations to date and our plans for the future; afterwards you can enjoy some delicious nibbles and a glass of wine as you view our newly renovated research area and gallery meeting rooms, decorated with images and objects from our collections — many never before on view!
It’ll be a fun introduction to both our new space and your fellow Southborough history buffs; plus you can learn about some engaging volunteer opportunities we’ll be offering over the next year.
Please join us! Guests are welcome.
All best,
Michael Weishan
President
Dear Friends,
As we slowly begin to reassemble our collections after the flood, occasionally we come across something that makes us laugh.
For your amusement, we present this undated clipping, probably from sometime in the 50s.
