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Hoping for
'goodwill,' Historical Commission settles for 6-month delay
By Jay Turner
Citizen Staff
The Canton
Historical Commission reluctantly invoked a six-month demolition
delay on two historic Revere buildings Thursday night, but not
before making repeated attempts to extract a little “goodwill”
from the property’s Midwestern owners.
Although the
delay was by all accounts expected, commissioners first tried to
convince Brian Napleton and Richard Brandstatter of Napleton
Acquisitions, LLC to withdraw their application for a demolition
permit, in hopes of avoiding the irreversible, six-month
countdown to the possible loss of the two buildings - a copper
rolling mill and a wood-frame barn - which are all that remain
of the original Revere Copper Company.
In the end,
however, business interests prevailed as the Napleton officials
calmly declined a series of direct requests, including one from
John Burke asking them to reveal the identity of a potential
buyer, purported to be a Fortune 500 company interested in
building a distribution center on the site.
“I’d like to
think that it’s possible at some point that there is some
element of goodwill, somewhere, somehow,” said Burke, when
asking who the interested company was. Burke argued that they
should have a right to know as soon as possible so they could
begin discussions with the new company about saving the
buildings.
But
Brandstatter, in response, said the company is presently working
with “several” potential buyers. Also, Napleton agreed later in
the meeting to inform the commission when, if ever, they decide
to sell the land.
As has been
the case in previous meetings between the two parties,
commissioners made pointed remarks and were at times critical of
Napleton’s handling of the buildings, particularly in the
aftermath of the failed rezoning effort at town meeting in April
that doomed a proposed mixed-use project, and along with it, an
agreement by Napleton to spend more than $2 million to preserve
the buildings.
According to
Napleton attorney Paul Schneiders, since the property remains
industrially zoned, and since his clients purchased it with the
sole purpose of building a residential and retail mix, they have
been left with no choice but to try to cut their losses and sell
- which is exactly what they have been focusing their efforts on
as of late.
Burke noted
at the hearing that Napleton’s strategy as a result has been
“quite clear,” which is to complete the six-month delay process
in order to make the property more attractive to a buyer who
might want or need to tear one or more of the buildings down.
Yet Napleton
and Brandstatter also insisted that they have never had any
intention of demolishing the buildings themselves, although they
do not have control over what a potential buyer would choose to
do.
“Once the
six months come up, we’re not going to go in the next day and
tear the buildings down,” explained Brian Napleton.
What seemed
to matter most to the Historical Commission, however, was the
fact that as of Valentine’s Day 2009, hundreds of years of
national and local history could potentially be gone.
“Why now?”
asked George Comeau. “Why do you need this [demolition permit]
in your pocket today?”
Comeau, who
has been the most visible face of the save-the-buildings
campaign for the past several months, made his opinion clear
from the start of the hearing.
“The blood
of the loss of these buildings isn’t on the town,” he said. “We
didn’t force [Napleton] to buy this property.”
Also, on the
day after the demolition delay took effect, Comeau wrote in the
introduction to his informational website,
www.revererollingmill.googlepages.com, “As the bells begin to
sound a death knell, we will work to spread the word and find a
way to preserve the final remaining buildings on the site.”
As for what
can be done now, Comeau said at the hearing that there needs to
be “some sort of collusion of friends,” including state
lawmakers and interested citizens throughout the country, in
order to ensure that the buildings are saved.
Residents
who attended also offered a variety of suggestions, ranging from
possible eminent domain takings to borrowing state funds to
purchase a subdivided parcel that includes the two buildings.
“We are the
town of Canton,” proclaimed Susan Doody of High Street, a
lifelong resident. “We are the ones who have this interest and
this history.”
Other
residents raised the possibility of relocating the buildings;
however, Brandstatter said Napleton had already offered to
donate the buildings to the town, but that it would likely cost
in excess of $1 million to relocate them, and the rolling mill,
especially, would have to be “taken down brick-by-brick and then
reassembled brick-by-brick.”
Who wants
to
talk?
While
Schneiders has confirmed that his clients are currently shopping
the Revere Street property to prospective buyers, he said they
are also willing to sit down with town officials to discuss a
possible second mixed-use rezoning attempt, which, incidentally,
could be one way to guarantee the preservation of the two
buildings.
“If we were
approached by the Board of Selectmen to reopen talks, then we
would, absolutely,” he said.
Meanwhile,
selectmen Chairman John Connolly said he is also willing to
talk, although he said Schneiders and Napleton would have to
contact him.
“It has to
come from Napleton,” Connolly said. “As long as the phone
doesn’t ring, then something can’t come from nothing.”
Connolly,
who opposed the rezoning at town meeting but chose not to
elaborate on the sticking points, said he spoke briefly with
Schneiders about the matter in June, but has not heard from him
since.
Schneiders,
however, said he explained to Connolly during that June
conversation that Napleton would need to be allowed to build
apartments - a right they relinquished just prior to town
meeting - in order to consider another rezoning effort.
Schneiders said he is still waiting for a response from
selectmen.
At the same
time, Planning Board Chairman Jeremy Comeau, who, along with
Planning Board member George Jenkins, pushed hard for the
rezoning at town meeting, said he is waiting for talks to get
going again.
“The one
thing that is needed is the Board of Selectmen,” Comeau said.
“Until we can get the selectmen to sit down at the table,
there’s no way we can come to any resolution about this.”
August 21, 2008
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