Update: On Friday, July 18, NPT filed an appeal of the HDC’s decision to allow 10 New Whale Street to be demolished. Stay tuned for more updates!
At last night’s meeting of the Historic District Commission, commissioners Stephen Welch, Ray Pohl, and Val Oliver voted to approve the demolition of the former Nantucket Electric Company building at 10 New Whale Street, with Abby Camp and Angus MacLeod opposed.
The review of the potential demolition of 10 New Whale Street began last year, at which point the Commissioners unanimously stated their objection to a demolition of the c. 1927 brick structure, originally constructed for coal gasification. The building, now owned by utility provider National Grid, is a Contributing structure to Nantucket’s National Historic Landmark district. The building has been in disuse since 1996, when the first submarine cable connected Nantucket’s electrical grid to the mainland, and though it is an advanced state of disrepair, a report by preservation engineer John Wathne of Structures North and letter from architectural conservator Glenn Boornazian of ICR ICC both indicate that it is not beyond saving with the proper investment from National Grid.
Building with Nantucket in Mind, the guidebook for the HDC, states on page 9 that one goal of the HDC is to “preserve the integrity of the historic buildings that physically express the history of the island; to encourage faithful maintenance and accurate restorations of historic structures.” Last night, the three commissioners who voted in favor of demolition of 10 New Whale Street failed to uphold the goals of the HDC as outlined in their own guidebook.
NPT commends commissioners Camp and MacLeod (an NPT trustee) for their votes against demolition. Click here to read additional coverage of the HDC’s decision in The Inquirer and Mirror.