1934-12-07 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

91 BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING DECEMBER 7TH, 1934. A meeting of the Board of Appeals was held in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, at 8 P.M. Messrs. Maddison, Glynn, Ferguson and Robbins were present. The Secretary was also present. On account of an emergency which arose in the family, Mr. Kimball was not able to attend the meeting and it was too late to send for an Associate Member, of the Board of Appeals. Hearing was declared open on the application of John E. Harrington of the Castle Club of Gardner, Mass., for permission to maintain a club for members and their guests at the Cary House owned by Charles W. Ryder and to maintain a Neon sign. Mr. John Lamont was present representing Mr. Ryder and stated that since the club had been closed they had tried to get a tenant and could not do so. They had several applications for clubs there and when Mr. Harrington came along from Westminster and wanted a chance to move into Lexington, he desired to rent the club. Mr. Lamont did not know of anything that the place could be used for to be rented to pay the taxes and there seemed to be no other way to get any income out of it. He stated that Mr. Harrington enjoyed a ' very good reputation in Westminster and Gardner, Mass. and presented a letter which was signed by the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Westminster regretting the loss of Mr. Harrington from that town where he operated the Westminster Tavern for the past five years and improved the property inside and out and ran a respectable first class place. Mr. Lamont felt that Mr. Harrington intended to run a good place and it would be better to have it run in that way than to have some other things there that there would be no control over. Mr. Harrington stated that he did not know just what the opposition was but his intention was to run a high grade place and he brought one letter to show the type of place that he ran and he felt sure that they would find in a short space of time that he would operate a good place. The Castle Club was the name of the place that he had and he would still call this place the same name. The place in Gardner, Mass. was formerly the Haywood Mansion, 500 feet above sea level and was called the Castle Club. They have a list of 100 active members and they pay annual dues. They have an initiation fee of $25.00 and they buy a share of stock costing $10. and they pay $10.00 per year dues. The club would be used for only members and their guests. They started, --to run a public place and had to shut down as it was not successful and they desired to run a club of this kind so that they can ' refuse people that they do not want. During prohibition they never sold a drop of liquor. Now that prohibition is over they would sell liquor under a license as a part of the