Last week, City Hall signaled that Springfield was moving into a post-tornado “rebuilding phase.” Almost four weeks to the day after the June 1 storm that ripped through the city, Mayor Domenic Sarno officially kicked off a new “public/private” rebuilding effort led by former School Committee member Nick Fyntrilakis, an assistant vice president at MassMutual who also chaired the mayor’s “transition team” after his first election in 2007, and Gerry Hayes, a v.p, at Westfield State University. A few days later, the emergency shelter set up by the Red Cross at the MassMutual Center, which had housed 300 people at its peak, closed.
As the city sets about rebuilding, preservationists are eager to make sure that the city’s historic character remains intact. The non-profit Springfield Preservation Trust is organizing volunteers to survey the condition of historic properties hit by the tornado. Volunteers will assess the damage to the properties from the sidewalk; those initial reports will then be passed on to preservation experts, who can make a thorough study of the properties, said Carol de Carlo, a publicist working with SPT. (De Carlo herself lives in a 19th-century house in the city’s Maple Hill historic district; unlike some of her neighbors’, her house was spared by the storm.)
Like many fans of Springfield’s rich old architecture, de Carlo said she worries that in the rush to clean up after the tornado, some historic properties might end up dramatically altered, or even demolished. Typically, owners of properties within the city’s six historic districts need the approval of the city’s Historical Commission to make changes to their homes’ exteriors. But under state law, that requirement is waived in cases where owners are repairing damage caused by natural disasters, the SPT explains; in such cases, the owner only needs to notify the Commission of the work.
One important caveat: “Permanent demolition within the district does NOT fall within this exception,” the SPT emphasized in a recent announcement of its surveying project.
“People have to understand how important the historic districts are to the city, especially as we try to recover,” de Carol told the Advocate.
“It’s important that people remember that historic preservation isn’t just for the wealthy,” she added, but can benefit people of all economic classes (many of the city’s historic homes are located in poorer neighborhoods), and the city as a whole. Historic preservation is an important economic engine, creating jobs and boosting both property values and the city’s tax base, de Carlo said. In addition, owners of historic properties see better returns on their investments.
For more information about the SPT, or to volunteer for the project, call 413-747-0656, or go to www.springfieldpreservationtrust.org.
