The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) voted to continue the application regarding the Mint until March 14th.

Nick Cracknell (Newburyport’s Planning Director) outlined a “last minute” overture by the Historical Society that he felt was of some significance. He outlined various conditions that he wished to impose on the property owner, Jim Lagoulis. He stated quite directly that the issues presented by the property were the most complicated he had seen in his 14 years working in Amesbury and Newburyport.

On the positive side, the recognition that imposing on-site parking for 5 or 6 units (I forget how many units the owner wishes to crowd into the buildings) was not an attractive option for the ZBA. This would entail the destruction of 5 antique shrubs (mostly rhododendrons) as well as additional black-topping. Sanity reigns.

On the negative side, three direct abutters continued their objections, along the usual lines of parking and density. There appears to be a lot of mutual mistrust.

My feeling is that the Mint has a 50/50 chance of making it. By that I mean:
1) The apartments need to get approved by the ZBA.
2) The Historical Society will step up to the plate with vigor. (I have communicated to the Historical Society and to anyone else who would listen, that there is a viable path to pursue.)
If these two steps were accomplished, the process could be speeded up and, I think, brought to a successful resolution.

The deliberate and “baby-step” approach of the Historical Society seems to me to be excessive.

I am not a member of the Historical Society, however, if any reader of this blog is a member, and wants to get involved, there is plenty of information available. Certainly there is plenty of information from me.

Jim Roy, Newburyport

(Editors note: “The Mint” which has also been referred to as the “Perkins Building” is on Fruit Street right below the Historical Society, also known as the Cushing House Museum)

I cannot disagree with the previous post that asserts that converting the Perkins building into a residential unit would be far better than what seems like the main alternative – demolition. However, there is genuine hope that it can be preserved and restored in a way to more fully preserve its historical merit.

It is not clear to me how it came to its current straits, but over the past week I have learned that:

1) The owner of the property may be willing to sell the entire property.
2) There is reason to believe that it would be possible to take the property, split off the outbuilding that is of historic interest, and resell the main building at little or no net cost.
3) A local bank appears to be willing to cooperate in financing the deal – to work actively to assist in the preservation of the historic property.
4) The Historical Society of Old Newbury may have interest in owning the historic property.

It appears that through a series of events, the obvious solution has so far proven elusive. However an effort to preserve the historic property is afoot and gaining at least some momentum. Good people are working on it.

What we need most is to understand in detail what the interests and resources of the Historical Society are – what they need in order to accept the building, and what help they might provide in the process of acquiring it. We are already working on this, but we are not yet where we need to be.

The other thing we need is the help of people willing move the effort forward in a coordinated way. If you are a member of the historical society, please contact them to urge them to pursue the acquisition. And we need more people to help coordinate and move the effort forward.

If you are able to help with this, please contact: Ed Cameron at: ed_cameron@hotmail.com or me at 499-4440.

Jim Stiles, Newburyport

The Newburyport Preservation Trust is a private, non-profit preservation group dedicated to the preservation of buildings, streetscapes and landscapes in Newburyport. Its mission is to protect the essential character of the city and to protect resources that are threatened.

We are in our formative year. We need to get our website up and running and we need to do a membership and advertising drive. Anyone who can help with these would be more than welcome and donations are accepted to help these activities as well. Please contact Linda Miller at 978-462-9079.

Linda Miller, Newburyport

Linda Miller is a restoration and preservation architect who works in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Editor’s note: The new web address for the Newburyport Preservation Trust is www.nbptpreservationtrust.org.

Information on the Wheelwright Property can be found in the book, “Gardens of the New Republic: Fashioning the Landscapes of High Street, Newburyport, Massachusetts.” The book was published in the spring of 2004.

And this is no slouch of a book. It received an endorsement from Richard Moe, the President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, DC. And in 2005, the Massachusetts Historic Commission awarded it a Preservation Award. William Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth, made the presentation. This is the first time this Commission has ever recognized a book for the award. It’s great to see preserving our heritage, including gardens and landscapes being taken so seriously.

The book is available at the Newburyport library and bookstores. It can also be obtained through the website www.historicgardensofnewburyport.org.

Many thanks to Sally Chandler for letting people know that the Wheelwright property is in danger (see earlier posts.) Also many thanks for contributing to a book where we can all learn more about the property itself.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

In addition to the architectural merit and grace of the house, the gardens behind it are of utmost interest. They are one of, if not THE, oldest surviving historic gardens on High Street. Designed by Henry Ward, personal friend of William Wheelwright’s, the gardens today retain much of the original layout.

The earliest surviving photograph of the garden from the 1860s is unique in that it shows not only the still-existing beautiful summerhouse and original layout of the garden but also members of the family as well as the gardener. To have much of this early design still extant is beyond wonderful!

To consider it being turned into a hot -topped parking lot or house foundation is beyond what I can imagine.

I encourage anyone reading this blog to get a copy of the book “Gardens of the New Republic: Fashioning the Landscapes of High Street, Newburyport, Massachusetts” and read more about this property and the rich horticultural history of High Street and Newburyport. The book is available at the Newburyport library, bookstores and it can also be obtained through the website www.historicgardensofnewburyport.org as well.

Please air your concerns about the preservation of this property! The time is very short! The members of the Board of Directors need to be aware of their responsibilities, not only to their endowment fund, but also to the the long range preservation of this house and garden. They were given a great gift more than 100 years ago and it would be a terrible thing if they disregarded their responsibility to that property.

Sally R. Chandler, Amesbury

Sally Chandler contributed to the book “Gardens of the New Republic: Fashioning the Landscapes of High Street, Newburyport, Massachusett” (which contains information about the Wheelwright property) The book is available at the Newburyport library and bookstores. It can also be obtained through the website www.historicgardensofnewburyport.org.

Mary, thank you so much for offering this blog for us to air our concerns about issues in Newburyport.

Of deep concern to me is the future of the Wheelwright property at 75 High Street. Most readers may know that since 1888 it has been the home for aged women, through the Society for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Females.

The property was given to this organization by Martha Wheelwright, widow of William Wheelwright. Now, all these years later, the Board of Directors of the Society has decided that they will continue with their mission to help elderly women but they will no longer carry out the mission in the house given to them for this purpose. Maintenance costs have become prohibitive.

Since this group intends to continue the mission of caring for elderly women, they are looking for the most money they can get from the property to enhance their endowment fund, apparently without concern for the overall good of the city of Newburyport, the immediate neighbors of the property or the aesthetic and historic nature of High Street.

My hope is that there can be some concessions made by the Society to forego a certain amount of money in order to retain the nature of the historic property that they were given more than a century ago. I’m sure the Wheelwrights didn’t anticipate the property turning into either a housing development of 6 or 7 houses or, worse yet, a 40-unit 40B housing project (editors note: this number, “40-unit” has now been double checked), both of which are currently possible under Newburyport zoning! Just try to imagine the impact of something like that happening on this beautiful property.

Please air your concerns about the preservation of this property! The time is very short! The members of the Board of Directors need to be aware of their responsibilities. They were given a great gift more than 100 years ago and it would be a terrible thing if they disregarded their responsibility to that property.

Sally R. Chandler, Amesbury

Sally Chandler contributed to the book “Gardens of the New Republic: Fashioning the Landscapes of High Street, Newburyport, Massachusett” (which contains information about the Wheelwright property) The book is available at the Newburyport library and bookstores. It can also be obtained through the website www.historicgardensofnewburyport.org

One of the things that really concerns me is the demolition of One Temple Street.

One Temple Street was one of the brick buildings that was built after the fire of 1811. It was restored in the 1970’s as part of restoration of Newburyport’s historic downtown. Where it once stood is now a huge hole beside the Five Cents Savings Bank. The Five Cents Savings Bank decided to demolish the building, rather than restore it or even move it, even with a great deal of input from various City Boards and Committees and over the protests of many concerned citizens.

This historic building was destroyed by one of our own. This is very worrisome.

Only a few of the buildings in Newburyport’s historic downtown are protected, everything else could be torn down, and we have a new landlord in town–Mr. Karp. His intentions may be good, but he is an outsider and it’s too early to tell. Do we really want to take a chance?

It is up to the City Council and the new Mayor to do something quickly. Newburyport has resisted a Local Historic District for years. We could protect just the buildings that were built after the fire of 1811, the heart of our economic prosperity. The work has already been done by the Newburyport Historic Commission (so it would cost us nothing) and we as a City can write a loose ordinance that protects the historic downtown, but also honors the rights of Newburyport property owners.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport