Watertown Commission Looking at Making Orchard House Property a Historic District

Wednesday night, the Historic District Commission will explore the possibility of turning the property – site of the Orchard House – into a historic district.

The committee announced the meeting Monday, and Conservation Agent Christopher Hayward said the meeting will be just a first step.

“The Historic District Commission is considering starting up a study group to look at making the Beacon School its own historic district,” Hayward said. “This meeting is a discussion to gauge community interest in to doing that.”

Dozens of Watertown residents showed up at a meeting of the Historical Commission (separate from the Historic District Commission) when the school applied for , which dates back to the 1830s.

Hayward said he spoke to officials of the Walker School, which owns the Beacon High School property at 917 Belmont St. He said they were not enthusiastic about the idea of making the property a historic district.

At the July meeting when the school asked for a demolition permit, Steve Tannenbaum, vice president of the Walker School’s board of directors, said that the school wants to take down the building to make room for facilities to provide space for gym and art classes.

If the historic district is approved, Hayward said, the Walker School would have a chance to appeal the decision.

Hayward said town officials want to find a way to preserve the building, that has played a role in the town’s history, and has

“The demolition delay (passed by the Historical Commission) can only last a total of one year,” Hayward said. “If we don’t make an effort (to save the house) and they don’t make an effort, at the end of that time we’re going to lose the building.”

The last time the town explored creating a historic district, it failed because residents did not want it, Hayward said. It would have been called the Brigham Historic District, and would have been located north of Mt. Auburn Street and included streets such as Russell Avenue, Garfield Street and Bailey Road.

The Historic District Commission will meet Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Lower Hearing Room in .