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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, August 30, 2019 Page 3 Commission delays demolition of American Legion Post By Barbara Taormina P lans to build a co-housing development at 368 Pleasant St. will be delayed for up to 12 months so that the owners and the city can consider alternatives to demolishing the existing building. Bay State Commons, a group of individuals and families, bought the former American Legion Post three years ago with the intent of creating a co-housing project with 30 individual condos built around shared interior and exterior space. But the plan calls for razing the existing building, which the city’s Historical Commission has determined is historically, socially and architecturally significant and should be preserved for the benefit of the public. The city’s Demolition Delay Ordinance gives the Historical Commission the authority to put a demolition permit on hold for up to a year while owners consider alternatives to preserve or sell the property. This week, the commission voted unanimously to start the 12-month delay clock ticking. “I must say I think it’s our duty to maintain this ordinance,” said Commission Member John Tramondozzi. “This building should be preserved as much as possible.” Commission members agreed that the building checked all the boxes of a “preferably preserved” building. Built in 1864 as one of several large suburban estates that lined Pleasant Street, the building’s age, its location in an area with other historical buildings, its place in local history and its use first as a single-family home and later as an American Legion Post make it historically, culturally and socially significant. Commission members also agreed that the building has exterior and interior architectural features that also make it a candidate for preservation. At a public hearing on the demolition permit, members of Bay State Commons, architects designing the new co-housing building and members of the community who support the project acknowledged that the building is historically significant because of its past. However, they stressed that the building’s interior is not viable for the co-housing project and many of the building’s 19th-centuy details and characteristics have been lost to time, alterations and damage making it a poor candidate for preservation. But local historian Frank Russell said the building’s gables, floor-length windows and entryway granite steps are among the building’s original features that still exist. “If the vinyl siding were to be removed, the exterior restored, the brackets put back under the eaves, from my conversations with the state historical commission, this building would be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as having local significance,” Russell told the Commission. “There is enough here that can be preserved and brought back,” he added. Commission members agreed that they are primarily concerned with preserving the historical characteristics of the exterior of the building. Tramondozzi said the Commission has worked with other property owners to restore original characteristics of the facades of older buildings. “We want to work with people and preserve as much as we can,” he said. “It’s a matter of money, and I realize that but, and I hate to say it, but money is not our consideration. We want to preserve the building.” Commission Chair Barbara Tolstrup stressed that the demolition delay is not a 12-month waiting period that will eventually end with demolition of the building. She, and other commission members, said repeatedly that they want to work with Bay State Commons to find a way that the building’s original exterior can still be seen in the co-housing project’s design. Habitat for Humanity breaks ground in Malden H abitat for Humanity recently broke ground on the first two units of an eight-unit development on Main Street across from Pine Banks Park. Two single family homes are under construction with a six-unit townhome building to follow shortly. Homesteader families have been chosen, one from Malden and the other from Everett, for LIBRARY | FROM PAGE 2 maintained the flow while office personnel kept track of everything else. Siblings worked here as did women, newcomers from Ireland and a teenager named Alvan T. Fuller, who would later become governor of Massachusetts. Join us for a tribute to their meaningful lives. Morris is an independent scholar and educational consultant specializing in 19th-century history of Greater Boston. She presents walking tours at Forest Hills Cemetery and programs at libraries, schools and historical societies. Her goal is to connect people with their civic ancestors. These lectures are part of the first phase and are currently working on their required 300hour “sweat equity.” Habitat for Humanity’s ability to provide affordable home ownership opportunities here is significantly improved by the support of the Greater Malden community. That support comes from residents, businesses and other nonprofits in terms of volunteers, “Go Local: Converse 2020,” an ongoing series celebrating the life and philanthropic contributions of Malden’s first Mayor, Elisha Slade Converse, and the industrial history of Malden. Go Local is brought to Malden with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The series will continue through Elisha Converse’s 200th Birthday on July 28, 2020. All lectures will be held at the Malden Public Library (36 Salem St.). For more information, contact the Library at 781-324-0218 or visit the website www.maldenpubliclibrary.org. Lawrence A. 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