Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | June 27, 2022 | wbjournal.com BY ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL WBJ Staff Writer I n the late 1960s, a group of citizens in Worcester were concerned about the fate of a particular building located on the city's Main Street. e city was undergoing rapid changes in an attempt at urban renewal, with older buildings being torn down and new structures going up in their stead. e construction of I-290, which would ultimately cleave the city in half, was approaching completion. e building the citizens wanted to save, despite being built by Worcester's leading industrialists, required repairs, and was threatened with closure due to not being up to code. Many of the board of trustees of the building wanted to save it too, though others favored demolition. So architects were brought in to evaluate the condition of the building and see if it was worth preserving. ey not only found the building to be in decent condition, but its acoustics and foundation made it one of the best-preserved buildings of its type from the pre-Civil War era. at settled the dispute. e building was preserved, restored, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. at building is Mechanics Hall, now recognized as a high-functioning events venue and venerable institution in the city. e concerned citizens went on to form Preservation Worcester, now located in another historic building, the Salisbury House on Harvard Street. But the mission of both organizations remains far from finished, especially as the city undergoes another attempt to reform itself and be reborn. "We're definitely not opposed to new buildings, but we want them to have some character," said Deborah Packard, the executive director of Preservation Worcester. "We're not trying to save every building in this city, but we're really focusing on what we consider the most significant buildings, either because of their architecture or because of some cultural consideration, or maybe a famous person lived there." Deciding what to save Today's efforts at historical preserva- tion involve a myriad of different issues, from post-industrialization, increasing demographic diversity, and even climate change, as recycling old buildings can prevent waste production. Approaches to urban planning have changed drastically since Worcester's first post-industrial renewal efforts in the 1970s, with a shi in focus away from cars to promoting walkability and community spaces. "From an urban policy and zoning perspective, it incentivizes development that reuses the great historic fabric that's already in place, reinvests in the public realm, in the civic commons and those unifying spaces that would oentimes have been neglected," said Vin Cipolla, CEO of the Boston-based Historic New England, one of the largest preservation societies in the region. "e ongoing effort or fight, if you will, is to recognize the importance of old buildings and how much they contribute to a vital and livable community fabric and how old spaces can have great new uses." Cipolla said Historic New England plans on hold- ing an inau- gural summit in October to bring together experts in the field of historic preservation, architecture, urban plan- ning, agricul- tural conserva- tion, the arts, and education from across the country to discuss the present-day challenges of preservation and how it interacts with building livable locations. e location for the summit? Mechanics Hall. "Not only is it an incredibly iconic, historic building downtown, it's also just a great place for a meeting," Cipolla said. "In addition to it being a superior acoustic environment and a great per- forming arts center, it's one of the great meeting centers." The cost of saving history Inside Mechanics Hall, plans to keep the building up to date and running smoothly are of the utmost importance since its original restoration in the 1970s. Kathleen Gagne, who serves as executive director, helps oversee its on- going preservation efforts, such as up- PHOTO | ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL F O C U S A R C H I T E C T U R E & C O N S T R U C T I O N Restoring rundown buildings can be expensive, but saving historic landmarks for modern use adds its own monetary and cultural value Preserving the past while building for the future Kathleen Gagne, executive director of Mechanics Hall Deborah Packard, executive director of Preservation Worcester, is a leading voice in the effort to save historic buildings in the city.

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