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Standing and falling
The story of two landmark buildings offers a look at the contrasting fates of old
structures
By Anthony Flint, Globe Staff, 9/17/2002
ANVERS - Where others see the spooky remains of an asylum, John Archer sees
Buckingham Palace, even Versailles.
That is why Archer, a member of the Danvers Preservation Commission, is so pained that
the redevelopment plan for Danvers State Hospital calls for the demolition of two-thirds
of the Victorian Gothic structure perched atop Hathorne Hill. The asylum, which opened
in 1878 and closed in 1990, is too dilapidated to save in full, according to the developers
seeking to build 526 apartments there.
In Cambridge, meanwhile, the 1926 Necco factory on Massachusetts Avenue will be
totally preserved and renovated, under a lease signed by the Swiss biotech firm Novartis.
The New England Confectionery Co. is moving operations to Revere, and pharmaceutical
laboratories will replace the conveyor belts turning out candy hearts that say ''Be Mine.''
The contrasting fortunes of the two old buildings provide a window on the world of
historic preservation and the practice of ''adaptive re-use'' - the recycling of existing
structures as an alternative to new construction. In Cambridge, retrofitting old
manufacturing buildings has become the norm, while in Danvers the campaign to
preserve the past has become a much more difficult fight.
''I'm not sure many people in town have actually seen what is up here, unless they had
relatives here or were here themselves,'' said Archer, surveying the hospital grounds in
the pelting rain yesterday afternoon. The hospital was allowed to deteriorate and is now
viewed by many in town as ''disposable,'' he said.
The 180-acre property is owned by the state and the Division of Capital Asset
Management recently accepted bids for its redevelopment. The selected developer,
Archstone Communities, initially sought to preserve most of the quarter-mile long,
334,400 square-foot main building on the campus, known as the Kirkbride complex. But
two independent reports found that the structure was in danger of collapsing and now
only the shell of about 100,000 square feet in the center of the complex will be retained.
Initially, the company believed it could preserve the old hospital for $240 per square foot;
a more detailed analysis revealed that it would cost $271 per square foot - too big a
difference to make it feasible, the company said.
''We did our due diligence and found it was impossible'' to save more, said Scott Shaull, a
vice president at Archstone, which is paying the state $18 million to build senior housing,
luxury apartments, and some office space on the site.
''They'd have to brace all the exterior walls while building a new interior structure, and
while that's been done, the cost was a bit of a surprise,'' said architect James Alexander,
whose firm Finegold, Alexander & Associates studied the project.
''We looked at this from every possible angle with the best minds in the business,'' said
Kevin Flanigan, spokesman for the Division of Capital Asset Management.
Still, preservationists in Danvers are not convinced. Noting that the property is on the
federal Register of Historic Places, town archivist Richard Trask said more should be
done to preserve the town's grandest architectural project. Another preservationist, Glenn
Uminowicz, said he could not understand how the Massachusetts Historic Commission
has so far failed to stop demolition.
Archer said that economics plays a big role and that many town leaders eagerly await the
tax revenues that the residential development will bring.
Robert H. Kuehn Jr., president of Keen Development Corp., agreed that residential
development at a remote site is tougher than rehabilitating office space in the thriving
biotech center that Cambridge has become.
''The big companies want to be [in Cambridge] and they are willing to pay a premium for
rehabilitation,'' Kuehn said. In addition, he said, renovating an existing structure in
Cambridge is in many ways easier than proposing a new building. ''You are seen as
taking a negative - an eyesore - and turning it into a positive,'' he said.
The Necco building is one of several ''gut rehab'' projects in the former manufacturing
center of East Cambridge, alongside University Park and One Kendall Square. Novartis
will have to do a major cleanup job and a complete renovation of the six-story property to
transform the interior into working office and laboratory space. The exterior of the
imposing factory, with its trademark frontage on Massachusetts Avenue, will be retained.
''It has become a bit of a no-brainer to do this kind of work in Cambridge,'' said Kuehn.
Re-using existing buildings is seen as a sustainable development practice, because the
footprint of the structure - and its impact on the environment - is already there, he said. ''It
also has tremendous marketing appeal.''
Anthony Flint can be reached at [email protected]
This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 9/17/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
(Globe File Photo)
Necco building
(New England Confectionery Co.)
Location: Mass. Ave. in Cambridge
Old use: candy factory, since 1926
New use: new offices and labs for the
Swiss biotech firm Novartis
Space: 500,000 square feet, to be
totally rehabilitated
Developer/Architect: DSF Advisors /
Tsoi/Korbus & Associates
(Globe File Photo)
Danvers State Hospital
Location: Hawthorne Hill in Danvers
Old use: insane asylum, since 1878
New use: residential apartments, some
commercial use
Space: 334,400 square feet, two-thirds
demolished, one-third rehabilitated
Developer/Architect: Archstone / yet to
be chosen
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