Update: On November 5, the Select Board voted 3-2 to reject NPT’s appeal of the demolition of 10 New Whale Street. We are of course disappointed by the outcome, but heartened by the support the appeal received. Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting or wrote a letter to the Select Board in support of NPT. The appeal raised important issues about the lack of procedure and the limiting of public comment in the Historic District Commission meetings in which the demolition application was reviewed. We thank Select Board members Matt Fee and Malcom MacNab for their votes in favor of the appeal, and the entire Select Board and Town staff for their time spent on the public hearing.
When a building is demolished, it is gone forever. The loss of 10 New Whale Street, a contributing building to Nantucket’s National Historic Landmark District, will be a loss for the entire Nantucket community and a further erosion of the island’s historic heritage.
The Nantucket Select Board will hear Nantucket Preservation Trust’s appeal of the Historic District Commission’s decision to approve a demolition of the 1927 building at 10 New Whale Street at its meeting on Wednesday, November 5.
On July 8, 2025 the HDC voted in a 3-2 decision to approve the demolition of 10 New Whale Street. Originally constructed in 1927 for use in coal gasification as part of electricity generation on Nantucket, the brick structure is one of the last remaining vestiges of the Nantucket waterfront’s industrial past. 10 New Whale Street is a contributing building to Nantucket’s National Historic Landmark District. The HDC’s decision to grant a Certificate of Appropriateness to National Grid for the demolition was arbitrary and capricious.
As NPT Executive Director Mary Bergman wrote in her July 18 appeal letter to the Select Board, the HDC did not follow the Demolition Policy as stipulated in its guidebook, Building With Nantucket in Mind. The HDC also did not give consideration to all expert opinions provided regarding the condition of the building and the feasibility of its restoration, and public comment was improperly curtailed at the July 8 meeting.
If you can be in attendance at the Select Board meeting at 5:30 PM at 4 Fairgrounds Road on November 5, we encourage you to join us to oppose the demolition.
If you cannot make the meeting, you can send a letter via email to Select Board Chair Dawn Hill at dhillholdgate@nantucket-ma.gov to support NPT’s appeal. Click here to download an example letter, which we encourage you to personalize or put in your own words.
If you have questions, please email us at info@nantucketpreservation.org.