Horace Lamb Historic Restoration Answers
Horace Lamb Historic Restoration Project
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What are the current Condominium Association’s policies/restrictions on the
property? Did the Condominium Association officially vote to impose a
permanent Historic Preservation Restriction on the property?
The vote to proceed with the application to the CPC came after discussing of the
necessity of granting the City a Permanent Preservation Restriction on the property.
However the minutes of the annual meeting do not reflect that this restriction was
specifically included in the motion. A special vote of the Association could be arranged if
specific language is required by the CPC.
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The proposal states the Wire Mill East restoration is for additional storage bins.
How much of the rest of the project is based on protecting the structural integrity
of the building vs. creating areas for storage? Please provide the CPC with a
prioritized list of work
This is a misunderstanding as no additional storage space is being created by the
humidity reduction program. Currently the storage space assigned to each unit is
underutilized due to problems with moisture. If the humidity problem is corrected the net
effect would be to reclaim usable storage space for the tenants but this is not the reason
for the remediation. The primary reason for the project throughout the basement is for
structural preservation and health concerns.
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Is the proposed deed restriction conditional on “x” amount of CPA funding?
The owners at the annual meeting felt there were advantages to insuring the preservation
of our building by granting a permanent Historic Preservation Restriction. While a small
award should pose no problem based on this intention it might be prudent to have an
official vote of the owners to confirm this.
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How would this expenditure of CPA funds advance a public purpose?
As laid out in the application, our building plays a significant architectural role for the
development of several city sponsored projects. The preservation and maintenance of this
building helps to make pubic visits to Veteran’s Field and The Northampton Greenway
trail more pleasant and serves to remind those using those spaces of Northampton’s
manufacturing past. The public purpose of maintaining affordable housing inventories
(while admitting that this property does not officially qualify as such) is advanced by this
expenditure as well.
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How extensively has the mill building already been renovated during the creation
of the condominiums? Were those renovations consistent with the requirements
of historic preservation?
The effect of the renovations of the 1980’s on the historical integrity of the building has
never been evaluated by a state or City agency. The greatest modification came in adding
the third floor, pitched roof and dormers. Aesthetically this was a great improvement to
the building but it did modify the historic appearance of the 1884 structure. Two
doorways were moved to allow for the reuse as private condominiums. The old roof and
second floor beams have been preserved throughout and are exposed in every unit. The
foundation preserves its old stone construction elements. Various structures relating to
the transmission of water power have been preserved. The landscaping allows for easy
visualization of how the property’s dam site appeared, presumably up to the diversion of
the Mill River in 1940.
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How would the condominium association leverage CPA funds?
We are aware of no other grants for which we qualify. As stated, we appear not to have
access to funds other than those provided by individual owners. Condominiums, though
they operate as non-profits are considered for-profit corporations. We researched the
possibility of the Condominium taking out a long-term loan and found that the only
collateral we can offer is the cash retained in accounts and condo fees owed for the year.
The building itself can not be put up for collateral.
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Please provide information on how $150,000 will address all of the building’s
significant rehabilitation needs. Are there other funds needed to maintain the
building’s soundness?
The $150,000 is the current estimate given us by our advisors to correct all the problems
in the basement. Ongoing maintenance and improvements will be budgeted and applied
from condo fees and special assessments when necessary. Though annual budgets are
always tight we have kept up with necessary repairs to maintain the exterior of our
building. We have made structural repairs as they became necessary even in the basement
area where we are now catching up with the core problem of humidity. We have five, ten,
and twenty year plans for maintenance that we fund through our condo fees. We expect
that all future maintenance needs will be addressed through this process.
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What assurance is there that this project will take care of the problem, when
previous efforts have not?
There has never been so comprehensive a plan for addressing the basement problems.
The piecemeal approach taken previously, while maintaining a certain status quo, was
never adequate. These attempts were made internally with advice from the property
management companies we have retained. This time we have hired highly qualified
expert consultants who have provided best case and worst case cost estimates for us. We
are planning for the upper end of what they say costs will be. There is some remaining
concern that new problem areas will be discovered as we do the basement work but we
have tried to foresee all the problems that might arise.
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The impact on the homeowners of funding this renovation is about $10,000 per
unit owner. While this is significant, has research been done into whether these
improvements can be financed? Are other sources of funding being pursued?
As far as we have been able to determine private funding by individual owners is the only
recourse we have given the limitations mentioned above. Since most of us are of
moderate income we are dipping into the equity in our units to finance these
improvements.