[MassHistPres] UPCOMING: EMHCC Listening Session March 24, 2026

[Richard McGrath]

Unless there is a demo delay of 18 months or longer with strict rules, and
a town manager that will allow town council to take court action when
required, many applicants for demolition just wait it out. And demolition
by neglect? We have lost a lot in that way. One historic home, that was in
fine shape and occupied 20 years ago, was applying for demolition for a new
house at that time. The Commission fought it. The house has been neglected
and empty for over 15 years. The roof is falling in and will probably be
torn down. The positive things a commission can do are not enough as the
disappearing architectural heritage of our state shows us.

R McGrath.  Chair, LHC

On Mon, Mar 23, 2026, 11:34 AM sally milne <urbanosally at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you all for raising this issue. It is real and it is an urgent and
> extreme need. We could list the multiple agencies that have not taken
> Historic Preservation into their lens and crafted their toolboxes that
> destroy our efforts.
> Let’s keep the momentum going
> Sally Urbano
> Harwich
> Individually
>
> On Mar 20, 2026, at 9:17 AM, Richard McGrath via MassHistPres <
> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
>
> I agree. We have many of those same issues in Lunenburg, records in the
> basement thrown out, the historic weathervane on the historic town hall
> coming down for repairs and disappearing. A historic town building torn
> down for an empty lot. Over the past 25 years, we are averaging 1.5
> historic structures being demolished every 2 years At that rate little will
> be left in 100 years...  not to mention the annual disappearances of
> architectural details, fences, a stone wall alongside a designated scenic
> road, steeples, historic windows and doors, etc.. In 100 years
> Massachusetts Beautiful
> will be no more except for a few museum towns and some wealthy
> communities. Our historic architectural heritage and all that it
> encompasses....social, economiic, political and cultural history has been
> decimated.  Many cities and towns where the common man thrived ànd their
> wealthy benefactors, like Fitchburg and Leominster, aren't even a ghost of
> what they were 65 years ago. The architectural record and historic
> infrastructure wiped out or remuddled. Two historic civil war cannon, that
> sat in a beautiful civil war memorial park, since the park was built after
> the civil war, diappeared when they were in storage. Millions of people
> come here as tourists  to see old New England. People move here from all
> over the country and the world because it is OLD New England. They buy
> historic homes in Lunenburg. There is great financial value in our historic
> architecture and landscapes.If we don't get more tools as Commissioners
> from the state legislature we will be putting up more historic markers with
> a picture showing what cool building was there.
>
> Richard McGrath   Chair LHC
>
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 8:15 AM Connie Hellwig via MassHistPres <
> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hello - I was very interested to hear about the subject regarding powers
>> and duties of Historical Commissions be discussed.  We certainly have
>> painful examples that would showcase the need for a review of the current
>> MGL and  ask for legislative authority by the state and/or the addition of
>> specific examples of our authority.
>> Historical Commissions simply do not hold any power. All we can really do
>> is document and complain.  We have been denied access to town owned
>> historic buildings, denied ability to access town property for historic
>> inventory purposes, (things are given away or thrown out, like historic
>> documents stored in the town hall basement).
>> The Master Plan suggests several requirements for the Historical
>> Commission to be involved along side Conservation, Planning and Building
>> Permit sign offs, but it is not a requirement, just a vision.
>> This town has lost nearly all of its historic property. There are only 9
>> remaining one room school houses in MA, and Salisbury has 2 of them.  One
>> is ready to collapse due to "demolition by neglect" even though the town
>> voted to allocate funds to save it, the town manager has refused.
>> Parks and Recreation have relocated Historical monuments and changed its
>> original base. They completely altered the town common without one word to
>> the Historical Commission and were about to move another monument off its
>> original site so that all monuments could be in one place. Defeats the
>> purpose if "on this site..." is moved off the site to town common. We have
>> a bunch of dummies running things and Preservation and Conservation efforts
>> are crushed and Historical Commissions are ineffective without improved and
>> more detailed powers and duties. I hope you are successful in your quest.
>> We also cannot fundraise using any online platform due to finance dept
>> structure and municipal grants are rare.
>>
>> Connie Hellwig
>> Chairman. 978-270-2421
>> Salisbury Historical Commission
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 19, 2026, 8:34 AM Randall, Lindsay via MassHistPres <
>> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> *EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION COALITION*
>>>
>>> Listening Session
>>>
>>> Tuesday, March 24 at 10:30 AM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> In January 2023, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the
>>> Massachusetts Historical Commission, and Preservation Massachusetts
>>> convened the first meeting of the Eastern Massachusetts Historical
>>> Commission Coalition (EMHCC). This first meeting consisted of a listening
>>> session to better understand the challenges and opportunities that cities
>>> and towns in the MAPC region experience regarding historic preservation.
>>> Since then, the EMHCC has met an additional seven times to discuss topics
>>> as varied as cemetery preservation, historic district bylaws, and
>>> demolition delay.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Three years later, we thought it was a good time to hold another
>>> listening session, this one focused on the powers and duties of historical
>>> commissions. The feedback from participants will be used to plan upcoming
>>> EMHCC meetings and seed future partnerships.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To register: https://bit.ly/4uwRNWF
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The meeting will be recorded and posted here
>>> <https://www.mapc.org/resource-library/eastern-massachusetts-historical-commission-coalition/>
>>> .
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Please be advised that the Massachusetts Secretary of State considers
>>> e-mail to be a public record, and therefore subject to the Massachusetts
>>> Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66 § 10.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> MassHistPres mailing list
>>> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
>>> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>>>
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