1996-09-10 Historical Commission Minutes

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Minutes Reading Historical Commission September 10, 1996 The meeting was convened at 7:35 p.m. Regular Members present: Virginia Adams, John McCauley, Ed Palmer, David O'Sullivan, Roberta Sullivan Associate members present: Colonel Wilbur Hoxie, Gladys Montgomery Jones, Louise Sandburg, Alan Ulrich. Guests present: Claire Melkonian I Route 129 Imyrovement: The Massachusetts Historical Commission wrote to Town Engineer Joe Delaney to oppose parking in front of Old South Church, that the Church wants. Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Manager, will respond to Mass Historical, conveying the position of Old South and the Historical Commission, and it is likely the will of the Town will be accepted. Bandstand Siting: Gladys read a draft letter from the Commission to the Board of Selectmen. Letter was approved as amended, so moved by Ed, seconded by Roberta, by a vote of 4-0-1. - At Wood End: Alan clarified that the Celebrations Committee is handling the book sales. 89 Main Street: The property falls under the Demolition Delay By-law. The Building Inspector failed to forward the Demolition Permit to the Historical Commission. The Commission determined that it must provide the Building Inspector's office with a transmittal form; Gladys agreed to develop one. The structure at stake is the barn constructed sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, which is in the way of a road into a planned town house development. Commission members had visited the site in August. Members discussed that the road cannot be relocated due to wetlands on the property, and it is unlikely that the barn could be a candidate for adaptive reuse. The barn was determined to be "not preferably preserved', so moved by Virginia, seconded by Roberta, by a vote of 5-0-0. The Commission discussed how to encourage the developer to try to move the barn to another location in Reading, including positive publicity should the barn be moved successfully. Reading Municipal Light: The utility followed the Commission's advice in the adaptive reuse plans for its building. The Bishop-Bwe6y Collection: Eleanor Bishop's papers, NU i&rt lay, have been passed on to the Historical Commission by Mrs. Bishop's family and attorney, acting on her wishes, and Commission members have moved most of the papers to the Historical Commission Archives in Town Hall. John agreed to draft a letter of conveyance for Bill Diamond, her attorney, to sign. Times were scheduled to move and catalogue files.