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Historical Commission
Date: 2024-11-13 Time: 6:30 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Virginia Adams (VA), Jonathan Barnes (JEB), Amelia Devin Freedman (ADF),
and Christine Keller (CK)
Members - Not Present:
Sarah Brukilacchio (SB), Samantha Couture (SC), and Pino D'Orazio (PD)
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Christine Keller
Topics of Discussion:
The meeting was called to order at 6:33PM by ADF, who chaired the meeting. She made VA
a voting member for the evening.
409 Grove Street National Historic Reaister
JEB spoke with Ben Haley, National Register Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission
(MHC), regarding 409 Grove Street. The property has not been delisted from the National
Register of Historic Places yet. Once it has been delisted, we can discuss the process to
consider it for nomination. The first step will be to confirm that the owner(s) is/are in favor
of the designation, because it cannot be listed without owner consent. A letter from the
owner(s) supporting listing will be needed. JEB spoke with Shannon Schoonmaker, and she
will discuss further with her husband. RHC will need to If the Additionally, what happened
when it was moved? Was it picked up or disassembled? MHC will have to understand how it
compares to what it looks like when it was listed. MHC will need new photos of the interior
especially to see what it looks like now and to see the major First Period features in situ and
how they compare to what was documented in the 1990s. JEB will try to obtain the original
MHC nomination paperwork to see if it provides helpful information.
CK to review the list of houses that have been moved in Reading, as listed in At Wood End,
to determine which are on the National Register of Historic Places.
472 Summer Ave.
The historic property is Under Contract.
32 Lowell Streettfacade preservation
SB sent information about the Mohegan granite to the company restoring the facade. The
RHC has learned that the property is up for sale.
25 Haven Street/Art Deco light fixture preservation - discussion postponed
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Email response system
The discussion about responding to email inquiries to RHC continues. It was suggested that
we continue to organize response by subject matter: Demo Delay (JEB), People (ADF),
Archive (SC), Education/RPL (CK), and Inventory/House Markers (SB). It was agreed that
Inquiries will be responded to within one week, and the responder will copy all RHC
members on replies.
G000le Docs archive
ADF set up Google drive for documents shared among the RHC. We will experiment this
month with posting the Draft Meeting Minutes in a folder on Google drive for review and
comment.
Connected Readino: An Open House to our Community
JEB and SB represented RHC at the event on October 22. JEB reported that both new
residents and longtime Reading residents attended the event. The Historical and
Architectural Inventory was the primary display, and several residents asked about their
homes.
Town seal and land acknowledoment update - nothing to report
School Committee's Athletic Facility Namino Advisory Committee
CK provided a summary of the Committee Meeting on October 16, which included public
comment for the Phil Vaccaro and Charlie Hardy nominations, as well as committee
discussion and vote. The committee voted unanimously to recommend both the Vaccaro and
Hardy petitions to the School Committee. The committee met on November 7 to approve
meeting minutes prior to recommending the petitions at the School Committee meeting that
evening.
Accession of Daniel Pratt clock - discussion postponed
Vernon Chandler future speaking engagements
ADF reported that VC is scheduled to speak at RPL on Saturday, January 11, at 1:00PM. The
RHC will need to develop P.R. for the event through RPL, Reading Pos[, and The Reading
Chronicle. CK will work with ADF on P.R. for the event.
CatalogIt software - discussion postponed
Demolition Delay application process - nothing to report
Community Preservation Act - discussion postponed
Town Archive review and updates
Archivist Robin Merrow (RM) has submitted an invoice for her services to organize the Town
Archive from May through October 2024. The RHC is grateful to RM for the amazing job she
did bringing order to the Town Archive. We would like to do a walk through with SC to
understand how the collection has been organized.
Finance/Treasurer's report
JEB referred to the Town Budget Reports dated 10/31/2024 and noted that $741.76
remained in the General Fund.
RM's invoice for $4,246 was received on November 13 for the following services: Arranging
and describing archive records. Writing DACS compliant finding aids for archival collections.
Creating and entering archive description data into spreadsheets for migration to collection
management software.
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Future aaenda items
Table display
City of Woburn 1989 Municipal Code/Title 15/V. Demolition Delay
2025 Meeting Schedule
• Demolition Delay letter to Reading Homeowners/meeting
Review minutes from the September meeting
ADF made a motion to accept the minutes as amended, JEB seconded, Vote 4-0.
ADF made a motion to adjourn at 7:5813M, CK seconded, Vote 4 - 0.
Next Meeting: December 11, 6:30PM, Town Hall Conference Room.
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