2016-03-15-HDC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington Historic Districts Commission Lynn Hopkins, Chair Tel: (781) 698-4524 Anne Eccles Britta McCarthy Paul Ross Fax: (781) 861-2780 Robert Warshawer MINUTES FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 Cary Memorial Library Large Meeting Room 7:00 PM Commissioners present: Lynn Hopkins (Chair), Anne Eccles, (Minutes) Paul Ross, Britta McCarthy Associate Commissioners: Marilyn Fenollosa, Nancy Shepard, Robin Lovett The purpose of the special meeting was to give the Commissioners an opportunity to discuss the Center Streetscape project in detail, and thus prepare the Commission’s representatives for participation on the ad hoc Center Streetscape Committee. As part of this preparation, Mark Connor, a Highland Avenue resident, presented an overview of the history of Lexington Center. Mr. Connor is principal of Connor Architecture which is located in Lexington Center on Massachusetts Avenue. Historic Setting Mr. Connor began by stating his firm conviction that the renovation in Lexington Center need not be an either/or decision, not Preservation versus Accommodation. There are many historic buildings in town, but the fundamental design of Lexington Center is from 1966 and was thoughtfully executed then by Sasaki Associates, a local architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning firm (Watertown). Their original report is available. The 1966 vision was to be both progressive and reflective. The redesign of the streetscape then was in reaction to the construction of the Burlington Mall and designed to keep Lexington Center alive and in use. They worked hard to avoid making the town hokey. Originally, most of the buildings were one story and there was pull-in diagonal parking. The Mall was a car environment. The vision for Lexington Center was to contrast that automobile-oriented landscape by eliminating the diagonal parking, narrowing the street (thus effectively slowing traffic) and creating a wide, tree-lined, pedestrian space. It was a view of Lexington Center as the town’s living room, a comfortable, inviting space to meet and relax. The goal was to differentiate Lexington, to make it unique and not overly-designed. To that end, bricks were chosen, as were closely-spaced trees, and extra wide space on one side, benches facing away from the traffic, often in a U shape, and protective hedges between the pedestrian space and the street. A careful and simple selection of materials was made, not too many, to create a space with consistency. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 e-mail: historicdistrictscmsn@lexingtonma.gov