Historic houses to be moved

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on April 11, 2008

Two old houses owned by Amherst College are scheduled to be moved next week to new homes near the intersection of Gray and Main streets.

Meanwhile, a proposal for the town to buy two adjacent lots on Main Street for $400,000 to create a "public historic landscape park" faces a public hearing next Tuesday.

The two houses, built around 1830 in the Greek Revival style, will wind up next to the house that was moved from Kendrick Park last November. They will be just southeast of the Henry Hills House, built in 1865, the former home of the Amherst Boys and Girls Club.

<h4>Renovate, and sell</h4>

Jerry Guidera, of Amherst, and Russell Wilson, of Shutesbury, bought the entire site from developer Barry Roberts for $1.12 million in January. They plan to renovate and sell all four houses.

The 10-room house at 23 Spring St., just east of the Lord Jeffery Inn, is scheduled to move next Tuesday. It has been unoccupied for eight years and must leave the site to make way for the inn's expansion.

The other house, at 415 South East St., is scheduled to move next Wednesday. It has been unoccupied for 15 years. Because of interior damage from vandalism it will be gutted, Guidera said.

This house is already in two parts and removed from its foundation. It is scheduled to move through the Amherst College campus, exiting on Dickinson Street.

The college is paying the bill for moving the two houses.

The house that was moved from Kendrick Park will be ready to show to prospective buyers next month, Wilson said. Its price is in the $650,000 range.

The Hills house, which has 6,000 square feet, is for sale for $850,000 plus the cost of repairs, which Guidera estimated at $300,000.

The fate of the two lots with frontage on Main Street is less clear.

The Historical Commission would like to keep these lots open to preserve the view of the Henry Hills House and perhaps provide interpretive materials.

Guidera and Wilson are willing to sell the two lots for $200,000 each.

The commission's proposal is to spend $200,000 from Amherst's Community Preservation Act funds while seeking a state Urban Self-Help grant.

The CPA money comes from a 1.5 percent property tax surcharge and 65 percent state match.

If the grant is not available, the commission proposes buying only one of the lots.

The Community Preservation Act Committee, which makes recommendations to Town Meeting, was deadlocked 2-2, with one abstention by a member who's an abutter, in its last consideration of the purchase.

Opponents objected to the price of the lots and said the money would be better spent on affordable housing and acquisition of open space, said James Wald, chairman of the Historical Commission.

The CPA committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on its recommendations Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.

If the town does not buy the two lots, another old house will be moved to one of them, and the other will be sold for the construction of a single-family house, Guidera said.

Even though the proposal is for a park, "that doesn't mean it will have swing sets and barbecue pits," said Wald.

The intent is to preserve the grassy area, and perhaps put up some wrought-iron fencing, said Planning Director Jonathan Tucker.

"There's no intent to invite the public to have endless Frisbee sessions," he said.