Historical Commission

Princeton Historical Commission
Minutes for February 11, 2021

Attendees: Matthew Lindberg - chair, Carl Soderberg - vice-chair, Larry Todd - clerk, Jane Morrisson, Joyce Anderson

A Motion was made and approved unanimously to accept the meeting minutes from 1/21/21.

Several others attended the meeting: Karen Cruise, BOS chair, Lauren and Steve Stimson, Lynne Gettum and Amy Howell from the cemetery commission

The meeting was held online and opened by Matt at 7:00pm.

Matt asked Karen to review the proposal for the new public safety complex.

Karen shared slides showing possible designs incorporating part of the existing school building. The design is impractical for many reasons including the odd elevations of the building, its condition and its location on the site.

She then reviewed the preferred design option B in detail. The slides showed areas for fire, for police and shared areas of the proposed building. There are 3 drive through fire bays. She also showed exterior views which brought some concerns from Matt and Carl. They asked if there would be an opportunity for the public to offer comments. Steve Stimson also expressed concern. Karen said there will be a public information meeting on February 25 and there will also be two in March.

Matt and Carl both advocate a building which is aestheticly (more) attractive.

Karen asked the commission to suggest ways to honor the old school once it is gone.

Carl asked if some of the windows and other parts of the school building could be salvaged and perhaps be put into the new building.

This concluded the presentation regarding the public safety building.

Civil war plaques:

Lauren Stimson, Larry’s daughter, started with a slide presentation about marble, specifically marble from the Danby quarry in Vermont. The Stimson firm has worked with this marble on a number of projects and it has also been used in many other places including the Jefferson Memorial in Washington and the stones for Arlington cemetery. It is very durable and would suit our needs to make copies of the damaged “Roll of Honor” Civil War plaques that were removed from Bagg Hall.

Lauren said the quarry has offered to donate 2 pieces of 1-½” thick marble cut to size. A motion was made and passed unanimously to accept this donation.

Lauren also asked the Leominster Monument company to quote on the cost of carving the plaques; she sent them photos of the plaques. They quoted:

            Sandblasted lettering - $6000

Sandblasting and the hand V cut - $11,500

Estimated cost to install - $2500

Matt thanked Lauren and said the commission will review this at their next meeting.

Lynne Gettum and Amy Howell from the cemetery commission joined the meeting. Their commission recently surveyed all the cemeteries in Princeton and took pictures of some of the damaged stones and other areas of concern. Thay asked that the historical commission collaborate with them to get restoration work done as they have limited resources.

Matt asked if our fund for work in Meetinghouse cemetery could be used for work in the other cemeteries. We may be able to do this; need to check with town hall.

Joyce noted that Tamara Conde is the gravestone restoration expert we used in the past and she is highly qualified. Should we ask her to come and survey the work that needs to be done ?

Amy will send their presentation, including the photos, to Matt. Joyce thought there is an old inventory of stones needing work at Bagg Hall.  Carl suggested that stones which are becoming worn and may become unreadable should have markers made and placed with them with the name and other information so it is not lost.

Town common policy:

Matt, Larry and Joyce attended a meeting with the select board on February 9 and Matt’s draft policy was reviewed. After much discussion Matt was asked to add some additional language.

Matt sent our commission his draft with the requested revisions noted. There was discussion about possible improvements and uses of Goodnow park if it is excluded from the town common policy. The commission agreed on additional language to address this concern. There was a motion and unanimous  vote to approve the town common policy with the addition as drafted; Matt will send it to Karen

Letter re. Proposed National Historic District

Carl suggested we hold off sending the letter he drafted because our funds may not be available for some time. After discussion we  all agreed.

Can we get an article on the town meeting warrant to fund for work on the civil war plaques ? To be reviewed. We need to know the deadline for inclusion on the warrant.

Temple-Stuart mill street:

Matt did speak with DCR who control the mill site property and the small triangle of land on Main street. The indication was we could add steps on DCR property for access to the street. We would like to add a sign describing the history of the area. The open space committee is also interested in this.

Carl would like our commission to give input about the public safety design. Larry suggested that input from Steve Stimson would also be interesting.

The next meeting is scheduled on Thursday, March 18 at 7pm.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm

Respectfully submitted,

Larry Todd, clerk