awards ceremony

The Preservation Trust Annual Awards Ceremony was held May 17th at Tower Square. Mayor Ryan spoke to thank the Trust for all their efforts and to add to the honor given Kathleen Lingenberg of the Office of Housing and Neighborhoods that support so many housing projects in Springfield and have provided guidance and funding for many projects in the historic districts.  

The 2006 award recipients are:  

• High St Commons Limited – total rehab of apartment block at 40 High St
• Greg Virgilio – Receiver for 40 High St
• Liz and Mike Stevens - porch addition, 256 Bay St  
• St. Peters Church Buckingham St - Stewardship 
• Steve Daley Stewardship - Kimball Condominiums
• Dan Archambault - 101 Dartmouth St, exterior
• Raipher Pellegrinos – house & carriage house, 265 State St
• Jeffrey and Allison Sullivan - 52 Florentine Gardens 
• Peter Gagliardi & Michelle McAdaragh - new HAP house south of 53 Thompson St
• Ed and Jean Haley - relocated barn, 223 Longhill St  
• Kathleen Lingenberg - Office for Housing and Neighborhood Services
•  

Newsletter Contributors

Jim Boone

Bill Devlin

Linda Langevin

Michael Marcinkewich

Bob McCarroll

Jesse Steele

Thomas Conway

Marilyn Sutin, Editor

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Monthly Meetings

Monthly meetings of the Springfield Preservation Trust are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Mason Wright Retirement Center, 74 Walnut Street.  All Trust members are welcome.

SPT Web Site 

After many years and a lot of hard work by the SPT Board, we now have a site on the World Wide Web.  We would like to invite the membership to view the new site at both www.springfieldpreservationtrust.org and www.springfieldpreservationtrust.com.  Jesse Steele, one of our Board members, created the site. The site is a work in progress and he welcomes your suggestions on the design and content. Direct your comments to Jesse and put “trust web site” in the subject line. Let us know how we can improve it and make it better for our membership. 

Annual Summer Fund Raiser 

The annual Summer Garden Party Fund Raiser will be held on July 30th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Wallace Mansion on the MacDuffie School campus.  Hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, and wine and beer will be served. There will be two new features at this year's party:

• A Springfield Preservation Trust scholarship will be awarded to the MacDuffie student who writes the best essay on the history of the school.
• A special prize will be awarded for the best garden themed hat. 

Tickets may be purchased in advance at Flowers Flowers, 758 Sumner Ave and at the Flower Box, 596 Carew St. You can also mail a $35 check to the Springfield Preservation Trust c/o Patty Staples, 114 Kimberly Ave., Springfield, 01108 no later than July 24th.   Tickets will be $50 each at the door. 

Efforts to Save a Grand House 

The Trust has been working with City officials to help market a tax-foreclosed Colonial Revival mansion in the McKnight Local Historic District for only $1,000. The 1890-era house was originally built on State Street and moved to 14-16 Buckingham Street in 1915. It has three floors with more than 6,600 square feet and 16 rooms including double parlors, dining room, grand stair hall, 6 baths, 7 fireplaces, and rooftop cupola. The house is in need of substantial rehabilitation. The house had been neglected for years and has been vacant for more than a decade. Past attempts to market the house were unsuccessful, and Mayor Charles Ryan agreed to allow a final attempt before the house was demolished. 

In early April, 30 Trust volunteers, as well as a crew from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office, removed more than 80 bags of trash so the house would “show” better. Board member Bill Devlin drew interior floor plans which were made available to interested people while Board member Michael Marcinkewich took numerous photographs, some of which were featured on City and newspaper web sites. Board member Jesse Steele made a detailed cost estimate for the rehabilitation work. The Trust spent $500 for classified advertisements in the Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, and Springfield Republican. Trust volunteers then staffed the six open houses, which drew nearly 100 viewers. 

Two proposals were submitted by the due date of May 26. One was submitted by Kevin Charlton, a Trust member. A City committee will now review the proposals and recommend a preferred developer to the Mayor. If all goes well, the house will be conveyed to a new owner in early autumn. 

Roof Repair 

Early this year, a newspaper story told of a partial roof collapse at 31 Elm St.  The vacant office building, originally a hotel, is one of the City’s major assets at Court Square.  Mr. Paul Picknelly, preferred developer at the time (for a hotel use), had committed to making the necessary repairs. At the time, the Trust wrote to him, thanking him for this commitment to protecting the building. We are pleased to learn that the work has indeed been done, as reported by Ben Schenkelberg, the Architect for the project.  A follow-up letter will be sent to Mr. Picknelly thanking him for completion of the work. 

Channel 57 Auction 

Being an all volunteer organization, the Springfield Preservation Trust knows the significance of extra helping hands in order to have a successful event. So, on April 27^th, five Board of Trustee members and two SPT members gathered at the WGBY Television studio in Springfield for the 21^st annual Wine & Dine auction.  

All the helpers were given a quick twenty minute overview on how to take bids over the phone which was not as easy as you’d think! Wearing T-Shirts that promoted the Forest Park Home Tour, we worked a three hour shift that started off slow, then, flew by while chefs prepared meals right in front of us and exquisite wines were sold to the highest bidder. One lucky PBS viewer was able to scoop up four tickets to the FP Home Tour that were donated by the SPT. “It was very exciting and I had a great time” said Jim Boone, SPT President. Jesse Steele, SPT Board Member, echoed Jim’s sentiments “I am glad I did this; I had Fun”.  

Volunteers are a vital part of any Non-Profit Organization and they could always use your help. If you would like to help, contact Susan Lofthouse  at slofthouse@wgby.org. 

Mattoon Street Arts Festival 

On September 9^th and 10^th, the Mattoon St neighborhood Association will host the annual Mattoon Street Arts Festival. Featured over the two day fete will be the annual house and garden tour, handmade arts and crafts, strolling musicians, and tables from several Springfield organizations that support and attend the fair. 

The Preservation Trust will have a membership table available to great visitors and provide information about the city and our organization.  If you would like to help staff the table or volunteer with any of our up coming events, please call 413-747-0656, or write to us at Springfield Preservation Trust, 979 Main St. Springfield, MA 01103-0111. 

Forest Park House Tour 

On May 7^th, the Trust and the Forest Park Civic Association cosponsored the “Homes of Forest Park” house tour.  The event featured 8 Victorian and Colonial Revival homes built between 1896 and 1906 in the Fairfield St/Garfield St area. More than 250 people purchased tickets for the tour. 

Besides being Springfield’s largest local historic district, Forest Park Heights is one of the most elegant turn-of-the-century neighborhoods in Western MA.  Residential development was spurred in the 1890’s by expansion and electrification of the trolley system which connected the suburban neighborhood with downtown. 

Special thanks go to the homeowners who opened their homes: Martha Johnson & Brian Farr of 30 Churchill St, Michael Rheault & Matthew Jaquith of 47 Garfield St, Robert & Patricia Triggs of 21 Greenleaf St, Anthony Giarrantano & Gail Wilson of 27 Garfield St, Kevin & Molly Sears of 32 Fairfield St, Jerome Ray & Gale Sullivan of 59 Fairfield St, Ivia & Orlando Santiago of 60 Fairfield St, Warren & Amy Turner of 67 Fairfield St, and the First Park Memorial Baptist Church who opened its 1901 sanctuary.