Historic Salem, Inc., Salem, Massachusetts

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P.O. Box 865, Salem, MA 01970
(978) 745-0799
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A Brief History of Historic Salem, Inc.
by Jim McAllister



AND (URBAN) RENEWAL   (1965-1969)...

With its role as a developer limited to the restoration of the Pickman House, HSI redirects its energy into opposing the Planning Services Urban Renewal Plan. The organization's efforts to stop or mitigate the effects of the plan are chronicled in a January, 1966 article in the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal and continue even after the plan receives final approval from the Massachusetts Department of Communities and Development in May, 1967. Unfortunately, the urban renewal battle leads to a serious division within the HSI membership. A number of HSI Directors and members, frustrated by what they perceive to be the organization's willingness to compromise with the SRA at the cost of losing architecturally and historically significant buildings, form the Salem Foundation and engage in a series of aggressive, but ultimately unsuccessful, strategies to defeat the Planning Services plan.

Events related to the Pickman House restoration project soon create additional dissension within the organization. In June, 1967, less than a month after an article on the restoration appears in the New York Times, the Board votes to restore the Pickman House within six months to an extent that it can house an HSI office. A letter of solicitation is sent to HSI members in hopes of raising $10,000 for the next phase of restoration. But in 1968, a consulting engineer determines that the house needs major structural work. Bids for that work range from $40,000 to $50,000.

After a series of meetings in the fall of 1969, the Board of Directors votes on November 11 to sell the Pickman House to Philip Budrose "in consideration of $1,000, covenants and other valuable considerations." Under the terms of the agreement, Budrose must restore the house to the satisfaction of HSI within a specific time flame. Angered by the sale of the Pickman House, Libby Reardon resigns from HSI. Adding to the organization's angst is another motion passed at the November 11 meeting, this one declaring the office of president "vacant due to non-performance of duties." The office is currently held by Joseph Schappa, who is now devoting his time and energy to the Salem Foundation.

On a more positive note, the mid-sixties see the beginnings of what will become two of the organization's most important ongoing activities. On June 26, 1965, HSI sponsors the first of its many OLD HOUSE CLINICS at Turner Hall at the House of the Seven Gables. The event, titled "How to Fix Up Your Old House" features workshops by Abbot Lowell Cummings, Helen Hagan, and Salem horticulturist Daniel Foley.

An article about HSI in the Boston Globe on August 24, 1966, highlights the new HSI HOUSE PLAQUE PROGRAM developed jointly with Ben Campbell, a teacher at the Vocational School in Salem. Research guidelines are developed by Bill Tinti and Joyce Potter, while Joyce Mazur and Hester Tinti provide assistance to do-it-yourself researchers. Joyce King will research your house for $75. The actual plaques are produced by students, lettered by Mrs. Henry Lowd III and cost $10. The first plaque is for the Elijah and Jacob Sanderson House at 120-2 Federal Street.
AND (URBAN) RENEWAL   (1965-1969)...
The second half of the sixties decade is dominated by the ongoing efforts to restore the Pickman House and the fight to save downtown Salem's architectural treasures from the wrecking ball. This period also proves to be the most frustrating and acrimonious in the organization's brief history.

A letter to the membership from Libby Reardon in September, 1965, announces a public meeting about the HERITAGE PLAZA EAST URBAN RENEWAL plan. Accompanying the letter is a self-guided walking tour of the renewal district and a fact sheet to help members acquaint themselves with the plan in preparation for the meeting.

Reardon had helped prepare the Historic District portion of the preliminary Urban Renewal Study produced by Blair Associates for the City of Salem in the early sixties. But unlike the Blair report, which stressed preserving historically and architecturally significant structures whenever possible, the Urban Renewal Plan developed by Planning Services, Inc. calls for the demolition of more than 85% of the buildings in the Central Business District (CBD).

At the September 15 HSI meeting at the Peabody Museum, preservationist Robert Kerr tells 200 members that "Salem's greatest asset is its character" and asserts that restoring and rehabilitating older buildings will be more beneficial to Salem in the long run than razing and replacing them. A Salem Evening News headline the following day shouts: "Historic Group's Plea: Don't Bulldoze City." The accompanying article notes the meeting, which featured a lengthy question and answer period with Salem Redevelopment Authority Director, John Barrett, ended with passage of a motion made by William Russell Burns, Jr., to "name a subcommittee of Historic Salem Inc. to develop an alternative plan for the Central Business District".

An Urban Renewal Steering Committee is established to explore opportunities under the proposed plan for restoring or relocating historic structures in the CBD and/or develop an alternative plan stressing preservation. Members include Paul Pilcher, Nicholas Xanthaky, Richard LeBel, Evarts Erickson, Margaret Giles, and Judge Robert Hill.

In subsequent weeks, the committee consults with two Boston experts, preservationist Tad Stahl of Stahl Assoc. and Bob Hall of R.M. Bradley Realtors, regarding HSI's options. The committee also undertakes a publicity campaign to stimulate awareness of, and opposition to, the proposed Planning Services plan for the CBD.

At a meeting on October 22, the Steering Committee is informed by the Salem Redevelopment Authority (SRA) that HSI would be considered as a potential developer of the Charter-Liberty Street portion of the Heritage Plaza East Redevelopment Area. HSI is given four months to show it can rehab the Pickman House and one year to prove it can restore any other house on Charter Street. The SRA also offers to provide HSI with technical assistance and, if necessary, lobbying help. Ultimately, HSI's inability to raise funds prevents it from taking advantage of the SRA offer.



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