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.
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