By Fred Wallace, City Historian
October 20, 2022
First a quick review – in November 2020 the voters of Framingham adopted the Community Preservation Act. This legislation provides a means for municipalities to create a revenue stream for projects which enhance the “quality of life” in the community in four specific areas – historic preservation, open space, recreation, and community housing. Since then, a nine-member board has been hard at work creating the rules, procedures, and processes to be used in implementing the Act in Framingham. Much information is now available on the City Website, under “City Boards, Commissions and Committees,” “Community Preservation Commission,” including very helpful FAQ’s.
I have been the representative for historic preservation interests on the Committee. One of our first duties was to develop a Community Preservation Plan for Framingham. I am happy to report that we have completed the plan as well as all the other policies and procedures needed. We’ve been “up and running” since August of this year. Much help was provided by the Community Preservation Coalition, a statewide consortium of non-profit organizations and CPA community representatives, which helps and supports municipalities to understand, adopt, and implement CPA.
The proposals being submitted currently are for fiscal year 2023. The first hurdle that each proposal must pass is an Eligibility Test. The criteria for eligibility are spelled out on the website. To date the Commission has received twenty-one eligibility inquiries. These are posted on the website, along with the Committee’s responses. Thirteen have been determined to be eligible. Of these, four are related to historic preservation. They are:
- Restoration and adaptive reuse of the Athenaeum Building and Watson Place Firehouse at Saxonville
- Restoration of the roof of the receiving tomb at Edgell Grove Cemetery
- Improved accessibility to the Old Academy Building (Centre Common)
- Restoration of the original tile flooring and wall decorations in the Edgell Memorial Library (Centre Common)
Note that the latter two proposals were submitted by our History Center.
For these submitters this is just the first step in the process! They will now have to complete a much more rigorous application, in which careful estimates of total costs, possible other funding sources, benefit to the community, and other details must be provided. The Committee will then evaluate and consider each proposal and make recommendations to the City Council for final approval.
We urge all members of the Framingham History Center and the public at large to keep informed on these matters as they work their way through the approval process.