Incredibly sad and short-sighted.

 

In June of 2022, residents of the Town of Petersham voted to demolish the Nichewaug Inn.  In fact, it was a small amount of residents that voted.  It was after a town wide survey was taken, where the majority of respondents said they wanted to see the building re-used as Senior Housing and/or community space.  This survey was ignored by the Select Board.  They're not thinking of future generations as we had hoped.  Instead, they are following the lead of the First Select Board member, Nancy Allen.  Allen is a direct abutter to this property and shouldn't even be allowed to deliberate on the subject.  BUT she has done a great job of finding one other abutter to sit on the board and one firefighter as well.  Together, they have instilled the fear of fire into the residents that voted for demolition.  A mostly older group of people who don't have any vision for the future at all.  So many towns across the State of Massachusetts and the country, for that matter, are forward thinking.  They see why it's important to re-purpose and re-use buildings like the Nichewaug Inn.  They apply for available grants and funding to make good things happen in their towns.  But not in Petersham.  They don't want new people in town bringing new ideas with them.  You can bet that most of them recycle things at the town landfill but they don't care about the demo materials from the Nichewaug because it will be carted to another landfill.  There are so many things wrong here.  Nancy Allen paid the taxes on the property so that the town could accept it as a "gift".  Now Nancy Allen has signed off on demolition.  And it's in her backyard.  It's a tragedy of great proportion.  

And yes, we believe the Historic Petersham Common District should be removed from the National Register of Historic Places.  The Nichewaug is the anchor for the Common.  Without it, the town common is nothing.

 Visit www.facebook.com/friendsofthenichewauginn for more information.

Proposals for the Nichewaug RFP must be submitted by June 28, 2018.

All written proposals in response to the Nichewaug All Options RFP must be submitted to the town by June 28, 2018.  For more information please visit townofpetersham.org.

"Architecture has been called the art of building beautifully, a fixation of man’s thinking, and record of his activity…  Keep in mind that last phrase. It is important."

-Ernst Johnson, architect, professor, colleague of Eero Saarinen

Let the abatement begin while releasing an RFP!

The vote passed! The hazardous materials will be removed from the Nichewaug property. We will post progress reports as we get them. Don't forget....at the December Special Town Meeting, residents also voted to issue a new RFP. We'll post updates on that process as well. Developers, take note!

March 6th Vote

Attention Petersham voters - While the vote to remove the hazardous materials from the Nichewaug property overwhelmingly passed at the December 2016 Special Town Meeting, it's important that we vote YES on March 6th in order to finance the project and begin removal of hazardous materials.  Please vote YES on the Nichewaug debt exclusion ballot question on Monday March 6th.  

Vote YES on March 6th, 2017

 

Demolition was defeated!

Thankfully, we defeated demolition!  The Town did not vote to move ahead with the proposal that the Tavares team submitted, however, the Town did vote to hire a consultant versed in historic preservation and adaptive re-use.  We will update you periodically.  Thank you to everyone who came out to vote!

Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
working together is success.

- Henry Ford

The Vote

A Special Town Meeting has been posted for September 21st, 2015.  The fate of the Nichewaug property is in the hands of Petersham, Massachusetts residents.  Warrant articles are posted on the Town's website.  You can find them here.

Articles 6 - 10 pertain to the Nichewaug Inn.  It's important for every resident of Petersham to get out and vote.

Total Demolition will cost the taxpayers in Petersham at least 1.1 million dollars!  This does not include any interest on loans that may need to be taken.

Petersham residents recently held a clean up day with the approval of the Select Board.

A "yes" vote on Article 6 will begin the process of conveying the property to developer Michael Tavares and his development team for redevelopment.

Article 7 is the demo article.  Do not vote for Total Demolition; we can not afford it!

Article 8 is for partial demolition of the connector wing which connects the historic front portion of the building to the new back portion.  Our Select Board agrees that demolishing a portion of the building makes the project more approachable for a potential developer.  It comes, however, at a large price tag to the Town and may jeopardize potential tax credits for redevelopment.

Voting "yes" on Article 9 is a vote for abatement.  This means that all hazardous material will be removed from the buildings.  Some of this hazardous material could be encapsulated during redevelopment, thus lowering the cost of abatement.

Of course, if Article 8 or 9 wins the vote, the questions still remains.....Then what?

Article 10 is to hire a consultant to help the Town find a financially feasible solution regarding the property.  A consultant specializing in historic preservation should have been hired years ago.

Articles need a two thirds vote to win.  You can find more information on our facebook page here.

Please do not vote for Total Demolition; 

the Town of Petersham can not afford it!

 

The DRAFT (RFP)

Great news!  The Town of Petersham Select Board has agreed to issue an RFP (Referral for Proposals) for the Nichewaug property.  A DRAFT RFP has been submitted to the town as a starting point for a final RFP.  You can look under "documents" on the town website, or you can see it here.

If you are a town resident; get involved!  The Select Board Chair has called a meeting on Tuesday October 14 at 7pm in the Lower Town Hall.  This is your chance to bring your suggested edits to the Select Board.  All are encouraged to participate!

If you are a developer interested in the redevelopment and reuse of the Nichewaug property, stay tuned!  This is a wonderful opportunity not to be missed!

You can follow the progress on facebook here.