2008-06-06 Historical Commission Minutes

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Reading Historical Commission Meeting Minutes G L. E R Tune 6,1008 S S Meeting called to order at 1:00 pm at the Town hall Conference Room 1~~38 A UG -8 P 3. 01 Commission Members in attendance included: Virginia Adams Sharlene Reynolds Santo, Secretary Kathy Greenfield, Chair Karen Herrick Roberta Sullivan, Treasurer Susan Patterson Others in Attendance: Brian `Salazar, Entegra Development & Investment Minutes: Meeting with Brian Salazar of Entegra Development & Investment Introduction were made. Kathy gave a grief explanation of Entegra's request to meet with the Commission regarding the Pierce Organ Pipe Factory, and asked Brian to further explain his company's interest in the property. Entegra is a 1-year-old company, based in Wakefield, MA, and is led by two LEED Accredited Professional (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Their primary focus is "green" building consulting services, including rehabilitation and new construction. Their interest in the Pierce Street property is as the manager of a group of investors for the redevelopment of the building. Brian points out: • The building has been compromised; weakening of the primary load-carrying beams; deterioration of exterior wall structure due to water penetration; foundation walls buckled in some locations. Current static loads are exceeding the mechanical limits of the structure - risk of collapse when loads are removed. • Their goal is to keep the building despite significant deterioration noted by their structural engineer. Entegra would like to compromise between keeping the building historically accurate and creating a safe structure. • In general he agrees with the previous designs he has seen for its redevelopment. • Entegra's plans would likely remove the out buildings, and expand the main building to a U- shape with a courtyard. Parking would be at the sight of the present rear out building. • Landscaping would require little irrigation • There would likely be passive solar panels. • . The group would be seeking the benefit of historic tax credits. Concerns include that the replacement of structural members may compromise applicability for tax credits and that replacing windows may conflict with preservation goals. • This could be one of the first LEED-Certified historic renovations in the country. The company is in the preliminarily the due diligence stage. They are still working to gather investors, and still running numbers to see if they can make it work with historic tax credits. They hope to have an environmental assessment and schematic drawings by the end of the summer. Construction could begin as early as the Spring of 2009 and be complete in a year.