Great news! the Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) has accepted the petition for an Architectural Conservation District for a Charlestown Industrial District.
At the July 25th meeting of the BLC, Protect Historic Charlestown Chair, Eric Hill, presented a petition to the Commission to begin a process to establish a thematic Architectural Conservation District for important remaining industrial buildings near Sullivan Square and along Medford Street. If established, the Charlestown Industrial Architectural Conservation District (CIACD) would create an appointed Commission of neighborhood residents and stakeholders who would review proposed changes to properties within the established boundaries. Typical projects would include demolition, new construction, additions, and major alterations to the significant 19th and early 20th Century buildings that remain in the district.
The intent of an architectural conservation district is to balance preservation of significant structures with the intense development pressure underway around the periphery of Charlestown. The CIACD would serve as a preservation plan for a major gateway into the neighborhood adding on to the Plan Charlestown recommendations. The intent is to allow for revitalization and development of the area while requiring new projects to respond to and preserve significant existing conditions and buildings.
Significant buildings in the proposed district include the following.
1. Schrafft’s Candy Factory (1925).
An important visual landmark in Sullivan Square and a significant early example of the Art Deco style in Boston.
2. Terminal Storage Warehouse Buildings (1910-1913), Medford Street.
A three-building warehouse development where one building (275 Medford Apartments) has been restored and converted into rental lofts with retail on the ground floor. The other buildings remain as storage.
3. Silas Burbank Varnish Factory/Whittemore-Wright Co. (1880), Alford Street.
A significant and one of a few remaining 19th century industrial buildings in Sullivan Square, notable for its painted ghost sign and mansard roof.
4. Puritan Brewery (1898), 40 Roland St. and Puritan Garage (1920), 128 Cambridge St.
These two buildings are some of the best examples of Romanesque and Panel Brick style architecture in Charlestown and are in immediate danger of demolition for new laboratory space.
Next steps for this long process with the BLC necessitate the establishment of funding and a study committee to generate a study report.
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