A good sign

Wreath Festival—Historical Society—Sunday!

Halloween Parade

If you plan to march down Mechanic Street in the Halloween Parade on Saturday, take note. There is something creepy about those woods between Emerson School and Florence Sawyer School. Do you see the face?

Spring in the village

Main Street, Bolton, MA April 20, 2012.

Local Historic District effort shelved

The Local Historic District Study Committee voted Monday night to recommend shelving the effort and passing over the warrant article seeking approval to create a Local Historic District in the town center. It was to be voted on at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting. After reviewing survey results and hearing strong opinions expressed at Monday night’s committee-sponsored forum, it was clear to the committee that after more than a year of effort there remain sharp divisions even among property owners within the proposed district as to whether the proposed bylaw should move forward.  There was a desire expressed by several opponents of the LHD proposal at Monday’s forum to seek alternative ways of ensuring preservation of historic properties. It is expected that the Study Committee, having completed its work, will disband.

Results of the committee’s town-wide survey were distributed Monday evening and are available for viewing and download below.

—Roland

View this document on Scribd

The Economics of Historic Preservation

“In the long run the educational, cultural, aesthetic, social, and historical values of historic preservation are more important than the economic value. But as the great British economist John Maynard Keynes once said, “In the long run we’re all dead.” In the short term, it is therefore necessary that those who make decisions about our historic resources — elected officials, property owners, developers, investors — understand the economic contributions of historic preservation. As the research cited here demonstrates, those contributions are measureable, positive, and significant to a local economy.”

This quote is from a recently released report from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, prepared with funding assistance from the U.S.  Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration: Measuring the Economics of Preservation: Recent Findings Prepared for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation by PlaceEconomics, June, 2011.  The full summary is presented below. It turns out that historic preservation encourages economic development.

View this document on Scribd

Final version of proposed Local Historic District Bylaw

Two boys at the Cracker Barrel, c. 1900. Courtesy Bolton Historical Society.

Click here for the final proposed version of the Local Historic District Bylaw. This bylaw encourages preservation and protection of the historic assets in the town center. The draft has undergone substantial review and revision over the last few weeks based on input from town boards and residents. According to the Local Historic District Study Committee, this will be the version that will appear on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant for the upcoming Town Meeting on May 7, 2012. The Study Committee is hosting a public forum on April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

—Roland

Historic District Study Committee Modifies Proposed Boundaries

The following announcement was issued by the Local Historic District Study Committee last week.

LHDSC Listens and responds:

The Local Historic District Study Committee, in response to comments from town residents, has modified the boundaries of the proposed Local Historic District.  The change moves the boundary on the south east side of Main Street from 495 to the stone wall west of the lacrosse field, hence excluding 550, 554 and 562 Main St and the lacrosse field.  Since preservation of stone walls was indicated by survey results to be important to residents the new boundary starts at the stone wall.

The LHDSC will be hosting a town forum on Monday April 2nd, 7:30pm at the Public Safety Building.  Please attend.

Click here for the complete revised bylaw text reflecting the boundary change. Map with boundary modifications is shown below. 

Iris Berdrow

LHDSC Chairperson

 

Smith Property Sold To Bolton Conservation Trust

I am pleased to post the following updated announcement, issued by the Bolton Conservation Trust. A new chapter begins.

Bolton Conservation Trust president, Al Ferry reports that BCT has purchased the Smith Property, located in the historic district in the center of town, using financing from MassDevelopment loan funds.  BCT believes the Smith Property is important to Bolton’s future and has potential to be developed in a way that will benefit the residents of Bolton.

The Trust has formed the Bolton Center Steering Committee with a charter to plan remediation and future use.  Bob Roemer, Dan Gaffney, Bob Johnson, Bob Cohen and Chris Mariano have volunteered to serve on the Steering Committee and will be developing plans for approval by the BCT.

BCT would like to thank the efforts of the Partners for Planning for bringing this opportunity to the attention of the community and looks forward to help from the community to determine the best use of the site.

A mission of the Trust is to assist in and promote the preservation of the rural character of the Town of Bolton

http://www.boltonconservationtrust.org

 

Town Center Local Historic District: Draft Bylaw

From the Local Historic District Study Committee:

The Local Historic District Study Committee has received, and continues to seek, input from a number of town residents, committee members and administrators.  This is a very open process and will continue with your feedback.  Please note that this is version 7 and a draft, it does not necessarily represent the final version that will be submitted to the Selectmen for inclusion on the May 2012 Town Meeting Warrant.  Your comments and suggestions can be forward to Iris Berdrow at iberdrow@verizon.net or 978-779-8901, or sent to 27 Randall Road, Bolton.

Click here for the latest draft of the Local Historic District Bylaw.