News

Southborough Historical Society

Southborough, MA

News

Dam House to be Demolished (Summer, 2006) - The DeClinton Nichols House, built shortly after the civil war, is slated to be demolished. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) has submitted a Project Notification Form to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for review, pursuant to a Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement between the two agencies. Part III of the Agreement, Activities Requiring MHC Review, states… “Whenever possible, MWRA shall avoid demolition of historic properties, consistent with MWRA’s mission and available resources. However, the parties recognize that there are instances in which no alternative or mitigation not involving demolition is possible and the benefits of the project when compared with the significance of the historic property justify demolition…”.

The historic property contains the two story house structure built circa 1870, a two story barn and a storage/ office building. MWRA’s justifications for demolition are they have no use for the buildings, the buildings were acquired for the sole purpose for demolition, threat of vandalism, isolated location and public safety concerns.

2005 Photo of the Nichols House

The Society is in need of office space, archival storage rooms and the barn would be the ideal place to store large historical items that are currently stored in containers in other areas of the town.

During the summer of 2005 the Historical Society was in contact with the MWRA with respect to a lease of the property. At that time a representative for the MWRA stated that the Historical Society could not get the property since it would first be offered to other state agencies or the local municipality, and the most important reason was that the building is a threat to the dam because of terrorism increase since 9/11. The MWRA has no use for the vacated property and plans only to make the space a grass area.

The MHC Executive Director has replied to the notification and stated that after a review of the project she has determined that the proposed project will have an “adverse effect” on the Sudbury Dam Historic District and MHC seeks ways to eliminate, minimize or mitigate the adverse effect of the project. The MHC has invited the Southborough Historical Commission and the Historical Society to the consultation process.

This is a perfect opportunity to become involved in saving a historic property and we encourage all interested persons, members or not, to contact members of the historical commission or the historical society to save this historic building for use by the citizens of Southborough. This undertaking is a classic example for putting Community Preservation Act funds to work. The MWRA estimates that it would cost $115,000 for full renovation, $20,200 to demolish, or $89,000 to move the entire house to a nearby location. (RH)