Author: medfordhistoricalcommission

February Agenda

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Agenda for February, minutes for December are posted and available for your review now! Hope to see you all at what looks to be a pretty busy February meeting next Monday.

In other news and for those interested in improvements at Brooks Park on Grove Street – up next is the much needed restoration of both the fieldstone wall along Grove Street, and the restoration of Pomp’s Wall (the brick wall).

In anticipation of the masonry work, the areas in front and up to 5’ behind both walls will be cleared of all invasive plants, small/medium scrub trees and all dead trees/branches. This work has all been approved by the Medford Tree Warden and done in conjunction with the DPW, and the on-site contractor.

You may recall our archaeological dig last summer; that project is mostly completed with a final report due soon. We plan to host a community meeting to share the findings from the dig later this year – keep an eye out.

January Agenda

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It’s a great month to check in and see how the Historical Commission works – we’ve got properties at all stages of the demo review process. Application, determination of historical significance and a vote on preferably preserved status.

Plus, updates on the Thomas Brooks Park project and our ongoing city-wide survey of historical properties – this year our architectural historians will look at some yet unstudied corners of Medford: the old Brickyards, Mystic Park and Fulton Heights.

Here’s this month’s agenda – and all the minutes and agenda from the past few years!!

November Meeting Materials

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The Medford Historical Commission will host a public meeting on Monday, November 14, 2022. The agenda is enclosed for those who want to follow along. The meeting is via Zoom, or it is sometimes broadcast on Medford Community Media. A recording is also available a day or two following so you can watch this and past meetings in the archive hosted on their website.

November Meeting AgendaDownload

There are two buildings which will be reviewed for significance. The first is 31 South Street, a nineteenth century residential duplex that is slated to be altered beyond recognition. The second is 180 Lincoln Road which will be totally demolished and new building replacing the existing at a later time. The Commission will use the enclosed inventory forms to base their opinions.

31 South Street – MHC Form BDownload
180 Lincoln Road – MHC Form BDownload

The remainder of the meeting will be dedicated to project updates. As always, we welcome community participation. If you have any questions, please email us anytime!

October Meeting Materials

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The Medford Historical Commission will hold its October meeting on Monday, October 17 at 7PM via Zoom. Our agenda has been posted to our website but you can also find it here:

October 17, 2022 Meeting AgendaDownload

The Commission will receive two applications. The first is for a residential dwelling at 31 South Street, which is slated to be altered beyond recognition and is therefore subject to the demolition delay review. The second is a total demolition for the building located at 180 Lincoln Road in Medford.

The Commission will then move forward with a determination of significance for 8 Hamlin Avenue. This building appears to be a late 19th century house that was altered following a major fire. It’s present appearance is more in line with the other 20th century buildings in East Medford.

8 Hamlin Avenue MHC Inventory FormDownload

As a reminder, you can learn all about our demolition delay process on our page here and in our application package. The public is always welcome to engage in the process. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting.

October Hearing Materials

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The Medford Historical Commission will hold a public hearing on the demolition of 16 Foster Court to determine if the demolition is detrimental to the historical, architectural, or cultural resources of the City of Medford. The meeting agenda and related materials are included below. Hope to see you there!

16 Foster Court, an early nineteenth century cape. This resource is one a handful of early buildings in East Medford.
October 3, 2022 Special Meeting AgendaDownload
16 Foster Court Determination of SignificanceDownload
16 Foster Court MHC Form BDownload

September Decisions

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Here’s a rundown of the wide variety of decisions and discussions this month.

The Historical Commission had previously determined that the house at 16 Foster Court is historically significant; we will vote on whether it is also preferably preserved at a special meeting, currently scheduled for October 3.

We also voted to lift the demo delay at 130 Boston. This property was found to be Preferably Preserved earlier in the year. We tabled the release of the demo delay at 20 Otis Street.

We reviewed the submission of an application for a demolition permit from 8 Hamlin Street; a vote on whether it is Historically Significant will take place next month.

In addition, property at 80 Canal was determined to be NOT Preferably Preserved, and the property at 11 Orchard was determined to be NOT Historically Significant. These applicants will be granted their demolition permits.

We did not receive an application for 31 South Street, which was on the agenda, so we were unable to proceed with review.

And finally, we determined the Shiloh Baptist Church of West Medford to be Historically Significant. This designation will support their application for Community Preservation funding.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the meeting. If you have items for next month’s agenda, PLEASE send them to us via email ahead of time.

August Business

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At our August meeting, we received an application for a demo permit for 11 Orchard Street. This begins the demolition review process – next month we will assess the building’s historical significance. 75-77 West Street had also applied for a demo permit this month but they will not need to continue the review process; we reviewed their plans and the developer is doing interior renovations, not exterior work.

We also voted to lift the demo delay at 76 Sharon Street, where the developer created plans that preserved much of the historic character of the home. This property was found to be Preferably Preserved earlier in the year.

There was also some discussion of the house at 16 Foster Court; built between 1804 and 1814 it is one of Medford’s earliest surviving examples of a New England Cape Cod. The previous developer, who had been before the commission in 2019, has sold the property and redevelopment plans are now unclear.

We also discussed the Site Plan Reviews we are preparing for the Office of Planning, Development & Sustainability, for redevelopment at 595 Broadway (a residential building) and 162 Mystic Avenue (Medford’s cannabis dispensary).

Although a historic property on Canal Street is currently in the midst of the demo review process and has been on the agenda, the owner did not post their “demo permit applied” yard signs to alert neighbors, so the Preferably Preserved vote must be postponed until September.

Finally, we introduced Kit Nichols, who will become a new member of the Historical Commission, replacing Abigail Salerno who left the commission earlier this year.