The Town Wants To Demolish Three Historic Structures. The HDC Said Not So Fast.

The Historic District Commission has rebuked the town of Nantucket's applications to demolish three historic buildings, suggesting it would be more appropriate to rehabilitate them.

The town filed the applications to demolish a house and a shed at 39 Washington Street and an unrelated historic building on Okorwaw Avenue, all three of which were likely constructed in the early 20th century, but the HDC sent the applications back for revisions Tuesday after a brief discussion.

“I'm really struggling with this,” HDC member Val Oliver said. “It's crazy. Our mission is to keep Nantucket what it is, and our own town is trying to throw everything out.”

The town argued that the buildings were too deteriorated to repair or move, and that demolishing them was the only viable path forward. The structures had previously been used for seasonal lifeguard housing.

“Both structures exhibit significant deterioration and deficiencies that compromise their overall integrity,” Craig Piper, a senior principal with SMRT, an architectural and engineering firm hired by the town, wrote in a letter included in the town’s application to demolish the Washington Street buildings. “It is our professional opinion that demolition of the structures, conducted in a controlled and safe manner, represents the only practical and responsible course of action. This approach mitigates the risks associated with their current compromised condition and allows the site to be responsibly redeveloped.”

But the town’s own preservation planner, Holly Backus, disagreed with that assessment.

“Rehabilitation allows to both repair and adapt historic buildings for contemporary use, while preserving their significant character-defining features,” Backus wrote in a memo advocating for rehabilitation over demolition. “This would also help support economic development and promote sustainable reuse of existing structures.”

Backus argued that rehabilitating the structures would position the town to “lead by example,” and emphasized that “staff does not recommend the demolition” of the structures, highlighting the internal divide among town personnel over how to proceed.

The HDC sided with Backus, voting unanimously to require revisions.

“It's a historic resource, it's within the period of significance, it's a useful building, and any deterioration that it has suffered has been by the neglect of the owners,” HDC vice chair Angus MacLeod said of the Washington Street house. “I would not be in favor of a demolition.”

The town had attempted to position the demolitions of the Washington Street structures as a necessary part of ongoing coastal resilience efforts along the waterfront.

“Due to increasing vulnerability to coastal flooding, storm surge, and long-term sea level rise, the Town has determined that removal of the structure from the site is necessary to mitigate risk to public assets and improve overall coastal resilience,” the town wrote in its application.

The HDC was largely unmoved by this argument.

“It's a little iconic house on Washington Street. Many architects have come before us on Washington Street and done other renovations of these smaller homes, and they've been quite successful. I would be opposed to a demolition,” HDC member Abby Camp said. “Tearing this down for staging [for other construction], I can't really believe that.”

The HDC was no more inclined to approve the demolition of the Okorwaw Avenue building.

“To demolish this, I think, is a waste, and I don't think we'd be doing our job if we allowed it,” MacLeod said.

The town intended to demolish the structure to “facilitate a future redevelopment of the property for much-needed municipal workforce housing,” but will now have to return to the drawing board.

“This initiative represents a strategic investment in addressing housing demand while making efficient use of municipal land resources,” the application read in part.