Wednesday, September 22, 2004
The historic house's new site would be on the Village Hall grounds.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- A historic village house may be getting a last-minute reprieve from the wrecking ball.
With Mayor Ruth Wilkes casting the tie-breaking vote, village council voted Tuesday to "preliminarily support" moving the 1850-vintage Augdon House from Main Street and Green Meadows Acres Place across Yellow Creek to the southeastern section of the Village Hall grounds.
Final approval would be contingent upon a financial plan acceptable to council.
Voting in support of the move were council members William Dunnavant, Christine Yash and Joe Mazur. Voting against were Marc Cossette, Robert Limmer and Al Lind.
Wilkes said she voted in favor of Dunnavant's motion because she wanted to give council a chance to obtain more information upon which to make a final decision. "I want to see what sort of a plan financially can be drawn up and if it's at all feasible," she explained.
Suggestions
Some people have suggested the house could become a museum, and others have suggested it could become offices for the village police or street department, the mayor said.
John P. Scotford, chief executive officer of McBarscot Co., which owns the house, obtained a demolition permit in July with a 90-day hold before the house can be razed. McBarscot seeks to build condominiums on the house's current site.
Atty. Stephen Meloy, president of the Poland Preservation Society, told council he thinks his group can raise the estimated $38,000 needed to move and restore the house from private donors without any expense to the village. The society is a private, nonprofit group devoted to historic preservation.
"The main heritage of the New Englanders that moved here was the Greek Revival-style home, and that's what this home is a classic example of," Meloy told village lawmakers.
Earlier proposal opposed
An earlier proposal to move the house across the street to a village-owned park on Green Meadows Acres Place was opposed by neighbors who wanted to preserve the park as green space.
Scotford urged council to act on the matter Tuesday. "I think you should be enthusiastic about moving this house. You're satisfying a lot of people,'' he said. He added, however, "You can't just keep bouncing around this historic house. You're either going to help save it or let it go."
Limmer said the proposition to move the house is incomplete and financially vague. "If people want it, they should present to us a definitive business plan" concerning all moving, utility hookup and operating and maintenance costs, he said.
Council also should get an independent expert opinion as to whether the house is worth saving, he added.
"This has been talked about now for quite awhile. People have been working hard on it. I think we owe them an answer whether, under the proper circumstances, we would allow it," Dunnavant said of the proposed move.