1971-09-09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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HISTORIC DISTRICTS COMMISSION September 9, 1971 The Historic Districts Commission held a meeting on Thursday, September 9, 1971, in the Bird Room of the Cary Memorial Building, Lexington. Present were Commissioners Wilbur M. Jaquith, Chairman; Philip B. Parsons, Secretary; George E. Graves; Georgia H. Williams; and Associate Commissioners George W. Emery, Albert T. Pitt, and S. Lawrence Whipple. Commissioner Donald J. Shaw declined to serve in this case as he is a member of the Scottish Rite although he was in the audience. Mr. Emery was appointed to sit for Pi. Shaw. A hearing was held at 7:35 P.M. on the application of the Supreme Council of The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry for a Permit for Demoli- tion or Removal of the buildings on the premises at 1162 Massachusetts Avenue, and for a Certificate of Appropriateness for the erection of a museum and library building on said premies, which are within the Munroe Tavern District. Mr. Jaquith read the legal notice and the application for the Permit for Demo- lition or Removal and for the Certificate of Appropriateness. Mr. Jaquith then stated that for the record he wished to state that Commissioner Donald J. Shaw is a member of the Scottish Rite and therefore is not sitting on this case. Three other Commissioners, Wilbur M. Jaquith, George E. Graves, and Philip B. Parsons, are Masons but not members of the Scottish Rite so do not feel there is a conflict of interest. There was no objection from the floor concerning the above three Commissioners serving on this case. Present for the Scottish Rite were: George A Newbury, Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Buffalo, New York; Stanley F. Maxwell, Executive Secretary of the Supreme Council; Laurence E. Eaton, Grand Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Needham; Hugh Shepley, Jean Paul Carlhian, Donald Tellalian, John Kanastab, and Max Ferro of the architectural firm of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott. Donald E. Nickerson, Chairman of the Board of Appeals; Stephen Politi, reporter from the Lexington Minute-Man; and approximately 50 abuttors or inter- ested citizens were also in attendance. htr. Newbury stated that the Scottish Rite is a branch of the Masons; that there is a Supreme Council in most countries of the world; that in the United States there are two Supreme Councils, a Northern District and a Southern District; and that in the Northern District there are about 520,000 members {Pennsylvania has over 100,000, followed by Ohio and other midwest states). Fifty years ago the headquarters of the Northern District of the Scottish Rite was moved to the Statler Office Building from New York City. About four years ago they purchased the former Carter property and moved their headquarters to ' Lexington. They propose to build a museum and library complex on the former Smith property. This will not be strictly Masonic but will be a general and historical museum and the library will be more scholarly. The museum and auditorium in particular would be available to the public. Mr. Jaquith asked if there were any questions from the floor. One person asked,. if as a non- profit organization, would you pay taxes. Mr. Newbury said no and added that a separate organization would be set up for the proposed museum and library com- plex which would be tax exempt. Mr. Shepley then took the floor and stated that his architectural firm had been retained several months ago to prepare preliminary drawings. He stated that they have met informally with the Historic Districts Commission, the Board of Selectmen, and the Planning Board. An overlay plan was shown which showed