[MassHistPres] Response to Commissions not holding any power

[Steven O'Shaughnessy]

I do understand and appreciate the comment, made no doubt in frustration,
that Commissions have no power. For nearly 30 years I have taught and
worked on historic buildings in dozens of towns around New England. We have
all seen countless historic homes and barns demolished only for these
wreckless developers to build cheap, soleless, cookie cutter boxes. Perhaps
just as bad are 18th and 19th century houses gutted by flippers before home
depot grade renovations. A perfect example of this just occurred on
Commercial St in Weymouth. A handsome 1820's house with balustrade, slate
roof, original hand made sash etc.. was gutted to the frame. And yup, that
balustrade, sash, front door, and virtually everything of any interest is
now in a landfill. And of course there's a second huge two story box with
another four rental units in the back yard. ABSOLUTELY SHAMEFUL !
But then again.....
Developers with the sole intent to maximize profit and income have been
around for centuries. We lost John Hancock's home on Beacon St in Boston in
1863 so this is nothing new.
I do think signs with the date of construction and National Registered
homes are helpful and I think there are cases of successes when a developer
wasn't willing to wait for a demo delay to time out but I think it's rare.
Perhaps Lexington and Ipswitch have lots of protected houses and districts
but  many towns are failing at identifying their inventory of important
homes and working with current owners to agree to protections like signage
and historic districts.
Personally I think a model similar to the UK with federally listed homes,
barns, walls etc and an agency owners need to appeal to for any changes.
Perhaps starting with the 17th and 18th century stock.

Steven O'Shaughnessy
Dept. Head - Preservation Carpentry
North Bennet Street School
150 North Street
Boston, MA 02109
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