Norcross House safe ... for now

By Debbie Gardner

PRIME Editor

EAST LONGMEADOW The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) gave conditional approval to a $235,000 grant request from the Norcross Center during the committee's March 5 meeting.

"It's conditional upon a lot of things," Community Preservation Committee Chair Timothy Andrew Seeley told Reminder Publications. "It's conditional upon the Historical Commission meeting the criteria and declaring the Norcross property eligible under the Community Preservation Act Chapter 44B. Then it still has to go to the selectmen to potentially be put on the warrant, if in fact [the Norcross property] is declared to be historically significant."

Seeley said the grant is also conditional upon the town receiving the deed to the property underneath the farmhouse that houses the East Longmeadow Historical Commission. The farmhouse is located within the boundaries of the Norcross property.

If the grant request is ultimately approved during the Annual Town Meeting in May, the monies will be used to pay the remainder of the mortgage on the beautifully restored, historic 1890 Victorian home located on Maple Street.

The home, built by F. Norcross, was purchased by the Friends of the Norcross Center in 2003. Since that time the Friends have conducted a fundraising campaign to restore the home and carriage house now used as a town cultural center to its original elegance. The Friends had initially secured a five-year pledge on the property, which has now expired. They submitted a grant request to the CPC in January. The March 5 meeting was the first time the monthly board addressed the issue during a meeting.

"The Historical Commission first presented a letter saying that the house was historically significant and worthy of CPC funds, then a letter was read regarding the Norcross application for CPC funding," Linda Kern, a member of the Historical Commission and liaison for the Norcorss Center, said. "Discussion ensued, and a member of the Community Preservation Coalition was there to clarify the situation."

Seeley said the representative of the Community Preservation Coalition had been invited to the March 5 meeting to give a presentation on the advantages of the committee joining the coalition.

"He only offered clarifying points of information [about community preservation eligibility issues]," Seeley said.

Seeley also indicated that the deadline for placing committee and building items on the Town Warrant has passed, and the inclusion of the Norcorss grant request will be up to the discretion of the Board of Selectman.

The issue is expected to come up for consideration by the Board of Selectmen at their March 18 meeting.

According to Town Clerk/Treasurer and Collector Thomas Florence, the Community Preservation Committee has a projected budget of $478,000 for fiscal year 2008, which ends June 30, 2008. Ten percent of those funds, which are collected through a one percent surcharge on property taxes, is earmarked for historical preservation efforts in the town.