Minutes of the Princeton Historical Commission
May 6, 2010
Attendees: Joyce Anderson, Sheila Dubman and Alex Fiandaca
Demolition
The barn at 11 Gregory Hill Road has been demolished. Joe took several photographs of the barn prior to demolition with the owner's (Bill Gagnier) permission and forwarded photos to Commission members.
Members reviewed the demolition delay bylaw informational meeting held on April 14th with Chris Skelley. Planning board member Tom Daly was in attendance as well as John Wilson, Princeton's building inspector. Tom voiced concern over the criteria with which the Historical Commission would determine the 'preferrably preserved' status of a given building. Chris suggested using the same criteria used to determine National Register Listing eligibility. John Wilson expressed his support of a demolition delay bylaw.
National Register - Four Corners
Joyce has been in contact with Mass Historic (MHC) regarding the proposed Four Corners National Register District. Betsy Friedlburg is intent on combining the Four Corners district with Audubon's Wachusett Meadow. Joyce has been in touch with Wachusett Meadow director Deb Cary who has indicated Audubon's reluctance to be included on the National Register. Past discussions with Deb regarding Wachusett Meadow and the National Register were very positive, however, it seems Audubon other directors do not share that enthusiasm, and have indicated that their focus is on programs, not historic interests. Joyce checked with the National Parks Service and found no other Audubon sanctuaries listed on the National Register. Betsy requested Joyce submit a letter relaying the feedback from Audubon.
Anne Forbes' cost of writing the Four Corners nomination was $4,000 as of February and the cost of writing a nomination for Wachusett Meadows is $2,200, as of May.
Historic Commission website
Joyce has added photographs to the house file portion of the website as well as old map references.
Website is ready to be finalized with Lynne.
Meetinghouse Cemetery Conservation Project - 4th year
Members discussed setting up a contract for this year's gravestone repairs in Meetinghouse Cemetery. Members also discussed conservator Ta Mara Conde's idea to conduct workshops in the cemetery with students from Wachusett Community College. Basically, the arrangement would allow students to learn conservation techniques under the guidance of Ta Mara while providing 'free labor' toward our conservation efforts. Alex will contact Ta Mara regarding a contract for this year's round of repairs and to see if she is still interested in pursuing the workshops. If so, Alex will contact the Cemetery Commission to set up a joint meeting to present the workshop idea.
Future meetings
Members agreed to a tentative meeting schedule of the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Alex Fiandaca
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