Westminster Old Town Hall appears doomed
Select Board members vote to demolish
A community resource that has stood since 1837 now stands to fall.
Two of three Select Board members voted to have the historic Old Town Hall at 3 Bacon St. demolished in favor of constructing a park inits place. This vote comes after 15yearsof surveys and votes by the residents of the town to keep the building and restore it.
“It is crazy to think,” said Betsy Hannula, a boardmember of thewestminster Historical Commission, a historical author and a concerned citizen, “that people want to tear down such a beautiful Greek Revival building.”
In protest citizens initiated a petition in opposition of the proposed destruction. The group gathered more than 250 signatures and Lee Ann Lamsa presented the case in a townmeeting with the Select Board members on June 21. The debate continued for two hours and the proposal was not reversed.
Historically citizens have needed a simple majority vote, but in this case a majority was required to reverse the proposal on account of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40, Section 15A. More than half of the residents voted to preserve and restore the Townhall, to no avail.
“Two of the selectmen are being swayed,” said Hannula, “and not paying attention to the previous selectman nor the citizens of our town.”
The selectboard members were given authority to demolish Old Town Hall in 2020 through a narrow vote, 18 yes and 16no votes.
According to The Gardner News, Select Board Clerk Melissa Banks presented photos of the building which show black mold, chipped lead paint and broken gas lines. Westminster Fire Chief Kyle Butterfield also inspected the building and expressed concerns regarding its possible collapse, The Gardner News reported.
“If money is their reason to demolish it,” said Hannula, “tearing it down would cost thousands.”
Annual surveys regarding the Town Hall have been conducted through community input. All previous surveys have shown that the majority of citizens are in support of preserving and restoring the Hall.
The building was used as a gathering place for residents and was not fitted to serve as a town hall until the 1970s. The Hall was used as a school in the 1920s, a basketball court for players and a hall for graduating students. The building also hosted numerous town meetings throughout its service, to include town meetings and hosting Boy and Girl Scouts. Many organizations have used the building to host their meetings if they could not afford their own. Many residents even used the Hall for wedding ceremonies and dances. Veterans also used the building formeetings and for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.