Beverly Depot-Odell Park Historic District
Controversy
![Odell Park looking toward Beverly Depot](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Odell_Park_in_the_Spring.jpg/220px-Odell_Park_in_the_Spring.jpg)
The district was nominated to the National Register by Windover Development in order to receive $2 million in tax credits for their renovation of the former Friend Box Factory at 60 Pleasant Street into veterans housing. As the nomination was being reviewed by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Windover Development planned to demolish two of the buildings (the former Cushing Carriage Factory at 142 Rantoul Street and the former Hotel Trafton at 9 Park Street) for the construction of a new apartment building. Both properties were placed on a one-year demolition delay by the Beverly Historic Commission on January 31, 2013. In a letter to Windover Development, the Massachusetts Historical Commission stated the Beverly Depot–Odell Park Historic District would no longer be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places if these two key buildings were demolished.
A collection of brick buildings belonging to National Grid were included in the original nomination of the district; all but one were demolished in February 2013.
In April 2019, Beverly Crossing (formerly Windover Development) announced plans to demolish three of the buildings in the district to build a new apartment building, claiming that the structures would be too expensive to renovate. Residents accused the company of hypocrisy for using the buildings' historic status for the tax credits, then proposing to demolish them.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "MACRIS inventory record for Beverly Depot–Odell Park Historic District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- ^ Leighton, Paul (April 21, 2019). "Residents blast plans for apartment building". Salem News.
- ^ Leighton, Paul (July 29, 2013). "Company Rethinks Demolition". The Salem Evening News.
- ^ Leighton, Paul (February 28, 2013). "National Grid Demolishing Buildings". The Salem Evening News.