Historical Commission

FITCHBURG CITY CLERK The City of Fitchburg Jun 24 2024 8:41 am Massachusetts F i t c h b ur g Hi s t o r i c a l C om m i s s i o n 718 Main Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420 http://www.ci.fitchburg.ma.us/327/Historical-Commission Meeting Minutes for the Fitchburg Historical Commission Hybrid Meeting April 25, 2024, at 3:00 P.M. Members Present: Keith Chenot, Don Ostrowski, Ellen DiGeronimo, and Andrew Lipasti Members Absent: Charles Sternaimolo Meeting Guests: Mary Beth McKenzie, James Bunnell Chair Keith Chenot called the meeting to order at 3:07 PM and noted a quorum was present. 1. Public comment period: None 2. Review and approve minutes of the March 28, 2024, meeting: Ellen made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. The motion was seconded by Don. The motion was approved unanimously by members present. 3. Theater Block project update: Guest speaker Mary Beth McKenzie, Associate V.P. for Finance and Administration at Fitchburg State University, gave us an update on the Theater Block Project on Main Street. She noted the University is working on moving the project forward including investing in the entrance of the building with a historic looking Marquee. Other building work will include the roof and masonry repairs. The Mass. Historical Commission will review the updates on the building. The new first phase will include stabilization of the existing building with new roofs and exterior restoration, including the marquee starting the end of 2024 and into 2025. Phase two beginning in 2026, they are proposing to build a new black box performance area that will seat approximately 150 and be located within the original building where the current mezzanine/balcony area is (no new addition as in an earlier proposal). Phase three will focus on restoration and refurbishment of the remainder of the main theater space including the original stage area. Don commented on the historic tax credits and a FHC recommendation that it would be good if FSU did some historical research on the theater and on some of the shows held there. Mary Beth replied they are working with a historical consultant to document some of that history. She added that there was an organ in the theater and that the University has an organ to use there. Keith noted that we appreciate FSU backing the Upper Common Historical District which runs from the Fitchburg Public Library to School Street. 1 4. Activities for May, Preservation Month and brochure release: Keith noted that the Downtown Historic Areas brochure is undergoing the last edits and will be ready for printing. He also noted Mayor Squailia is doing a proclamation that May will be Preservation Month in Fitchburg. Keith passed out copies of the History Preservation Month poster which notes the May 23rd presentation. There are several sponsors listed on the poster including: Fitchburg Historical Commission, Fitchburg Historical Society, NewVue, Intown Fitchburg, the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority, and the Fitchburg Cultural Alliance. The presentation event will also be on Freedom’s Way Hidden Treasures events list. Keith passed out a draft copy of the event program which is scheduled to run about one hour. He discussed some of the program items and the topic of: “Why preserve the buildings.” There will be distribution of the brochures with a display of large images of the brochure. The brochure file will be available on most of the sponsor’s websites. Ellen asked if we could work on a Prospect Street Historic District. Don and Keith added comments in favor of this district. Keith noted that the MHC has information on local historic district creation. 5. Project to document and share Main Street building histories, historic districts, tax credit, and other restoration/reuse incentives: Andy noted he has been taking current photos of historic buildings and gathering historic photos of the same buildings. He has been storing the old and new photos along with MACRIS information on the buildings on the Fitchburg Historical Society server. 6. Update on Monument Park repairs: James Bunnell, Director of Parks and Recreation, was attending the meeting and gave an update on Monument Park repairs. He noted that some people showed interest in donating toward the installation of new park benches. Ellen added that she will purchase a bench for her family. Regarding the repairs to the cast iron fencing James noted the fence castings or molds have been found at the DPW yard. He also mentioned exploring grants to get funds for the fence repairs. Keith reviewed the park repairs including: cast iron fencing, the monument, the base of the monument, and the stone entry steps. He also added that we know there is very little money available for this repair work. Keith asked James how funds are applied for in the city and how the budgeting process works. James replied he does funding requests to the city and does grants. He noted that the departments ask for funds, and the requests are sent to the Mayor around January each year. James added that we could put together a budget request in November for next year’s budget. Keith noted that we should look at the repair costs and work on a funds budget request. Don and Andy noted that they had noticed the daffodils blooming in the park from the bulbs the Parks Dept. planted last fall. Don also asked about the removal of the “No Dogs” signs in the park. James sent out a message to his group to get them taken down. 7. Update on historic building demolition delay: Don mentioned he is still struggling with the Demolition Delay document. There is a new Acting Building Commissioner in the city named Felix Zemel and we need to reach out to him and invite him to a meeting to discuss demolition delay. Keith displayed the MACRIS list map of the surveyed buildings in Fitchburg. Don noted there are more historical buildings than on the MACRIS survey. Keith added that we get an ordinance moving based on the survey list for now. Don asked: how is the MACRIS list compiled and which buildings get on the list? He added that some cities and towns have a historic trees ordinance. 2 8. Update on appreciation and preservation of historic stone walls and stone structures: Keith noted that we could add photos of some of the city’s stone walls to the May Preservation Month event. The stone walls are part of our city’s character. 9. Coordination of signage for the Twin Cities Rail Trail: Keith noted no further action on this item, but would like to get back to it in a couple of months. 10. Historic Marker update: Keith noted no new historic marker applications. 11. Commission membership vacancies update: Keith mentioned starting to look for a Realtor candidate. There is no news from Chris Batinsey. 12. FHC website additions: Links to architectural styles, NPS Preservation Briefs, Preservation Directory https://www.preservationmass.org/preservation-directory, etc.: Keith added the May event items to the website. 13. New business: None 14. Next meetings: 4:00 PM, May 23, Celebrate! Fitchburg’s Historic Preservation event-Legislative Building 3:00 PM, May 30, 2024 (regular meeting) 15. Adjournment: Don made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Ellen. The motion was approved unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 5:12 PM. Submitted by Andrew Lipasti, Secretary, Fitchburg Historical Commission 3