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Date: 10/4/2022
NORTHAMPTON – Northampton is looking to add a Historic Preservation Plan element to the city’s Sustainable Comprehensive Plan, so Barrett Planning Group conducted the first public forum over Zoom on Sept. 29 to present the scope of the project.
Barrett Planning Group – the consulting group working with the city – initially presented the scope of this project to the Planning Board back in early June.
At the time, Judi Barrett, the planning director, owner and operating manager of Barrett Planning, described this project as a “very typical planning approach” that involves an inventory assessment of what Northampton has now and how protected these resources are in the city’s current iteration.
“We’re also looking in parallel at the history of preservation planning in [the Northampton] community and the extent to which that has or has not informed [Northampton’s] existing planning and land use policies,” said Barrett.
According to Carolyn Misch, the director of the city’s Office of Planning & Sustainability, Barrett was hired back in the spring, and will spend a year with the city developing this added element.
“The early first stages in the summer when people were away was sort of a data gathering opportunity for the group,” said Misch. “They spent June through now in that first phase of data collection, and now we’re sort of entering the second phase, which is public engagement.”
The goal of this meeting, and other forums in the future, is to uncover what people would like seen added in the plan. There will be an open house event at the City Council chambers on 212 Main St. on Oct. 12 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. so people can offer more input.
According to Sarah LaValley, Northampton’s conservation, preservation and land use planner, conversations about this project began four years ago with the Historical Commission, as the city realized there is a rich cultural history, a wealth of historic resources, a local historic district, and several national and state historic districts that must be preserved.
“[Northampton’s] most recent preservation plan was from the early 1990s … definitely not current,” said LaValley. “[It] was not helpful for the commission to be proactive and make decisions.”
“We’re seeking a dedicated historic preservation plan element of the Sustainable Northampton [Comprehensive] Plan to be able to assess the buildings, objects, and landscapes of historic significance that are important to the city and its residents,” LaValley continued.
Ultimately, this project will lead to recommendations by the planning group and an action plan based on the city’s environment, as well as their cultural and natural landscapes.
“Another principal of preservation planning for planners is to understand what you have that is historically important, that is part of your cultural identity,” said Barrett. “That’s also understanding that communities evolve and change.”
Northampton’s inventory
According to Kathy Broomer, the architectural historian and preservation consultant for Barrett, Northampton started surveying its historic properties almost 50 years ago. During that span, more than 1,700 individual resources and areas have been inventoried so far, with data coming in based on age, appearance, and history of the resource, as well as photographs.
“Northampton’s inventory isn’t limited to buildings,” said Broomer. “There are neighborhoods, bridges, cemeteries, dams and reservoirs, statues and fountains … there are education and healthcare complexes, and even the Three County Fairgrounds have been recorded in the city’s inventory.”
“The inventory serves as the basis for preservation planning decisions, but it also has great value as a record of Northampton’s history both for public information and education purposes,” Broomer continued.
Despite this extensive inventory, Broomer said there are further surveys needed to fill in gaps involving parks and landscapes, mill villages, agricultural areas, and post-World War II subdivisions. “Many historically and architecturally significant properties haven’t been included in the inventory yet due to time and budgetary constraints from previous survey projects,” said Broomer. “Others in the inventory may have been demolished or significantly altered since they were first surveyed, which is another reason why the city’s inventory should be routinely updated.”
Almost 500 resources in Northampton have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to Broomer, either individually or part of an historic district. Alumni Gymnasium at Smith College and the Downtown Historic District were the first of four Northampton listings in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The most recent listing occurred earlier this year when the former campus of the Clarke School was added.
“Most national registered properties in Northampton are considered to be of local significance,” said Broomer.
Some, however, are considered to be of state significance, like the state hospital campus, Miss Florence Diner, the Dorsey-Jones House, and the Veterans Administration hospital campus.
The Barrett Planning Group will continue to facilitate this information, and the open house on Oct. 12 will be a good opportunity for the public to provide their own thoughts on how the Historic Preservation Plan element could be utilized as an important facet of the community.