The Historical Commission held its third Zoom public meeting last night. The primary business was a decision regarding 43 Pleasant Street, a house built before 1850 and located in area now known as “Old Ship Street” on the National Register of Historic Places.

The commission found the house “preferably preserved.”

When a building is found to be “preferably preserved” an 18 month delay of demolition is imposed, to give the applicant time to consider sale, renovation, reuse, relocation and other alternatives to demolition. The applicant is invited to return to the Commission’s upcoming public meetings to present plans and alternatives, and to discuss the preservation concerns that their neighbors and the commission have. If a plan is developed that addresses the concerns of the public and the commission, a demolition delay may be lifted before the 18 month period.

Thanks to the Medford residents who wrote in, or attended in person, to voice their opinions for and against the preservation of this building.

At our June meeting on Monday the Historical Commission will determine whether the house at 43 Pleasant Street is preferably preserved, and in need of a delay of demolition.

At our May meeting, an application for demo permission was submitted by the owners of 43 Pleasant St in East Medford. This property falls within the boundaries of the Old Ship Street – our shipbuilding district – which is on the register of National Historic Places. However, this designation (unlike the Local Historic District designation) does not protect buildings in the area from demolition.

It does mean that the building has already been determined to be “historically significant.” Thus, our June meeting will proceed to the second step of the process, and we will determine whether or not the building is preferably preserved.

A copy of our surveyors’ Form B with a history of the building and its inhabitants is here.

The meeting will be Mon June 9 and full Zoom instructions are below –

The meeting will be held remotely via Zoom and to view and participate in this hearing please use the following:

Access this meeting via Zoom remote videoconferencing:
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/94922681587

Call in via phone:
One tap mobile: +19292056099,,94922681587# US
Dial in: +1 929 205 6099 US Meeting ID: 949 2268 1587

Access livestream:
The meeting will also be live streamed at https://medford.vod.castus.tv/vod/index.php/@live:ch3.
To participate while watching the livestream, questions and comments may be emailed during the hearing to HistoricalCommission@Medford-MA.gov. For information regarding this hearing, please visit www.medfordhistoricalcommission.org. Comments may be submitted prior to the meeting in writing to HistoricalCommission@Medford-MA.gov.