HomeMy WebLinkAboutmassachusetts-avenue_1575 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
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MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 48/169 BNorth A 632
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Town: Lexington
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Photograph Lexington Center
Address: 1575 Massachusetts Avenue
Historic Name: Lexington Police Station
Uses: Present: Police Station
- Original: Town Office Building
Date of Construction: 1956-7
- .
Rik
Source: Town Reports
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Kilham, Hopkins, Greeley& Brodie
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: brick
Topographic or Assessor's Map
�¢y Roof: slate
I -
x Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
none
Major Alterations(with dates):
r 1971 —garage addition at rear
date?— handicapped ramp
+ Condition: good
{ �
Moved: no x yes I I Date
b. -Yer
Acreage: 3.43 acres (w/other buildings)
Setting: municipal complex in mixed
u� neighborhood near downtown
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): December 2009
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 1575 MASS. AVENUE
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
�A 632
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
The Police Station building at 1575 Massachusetts Avenue is the last of the three constructed in the municipal complex and was
designed to be a mirror image of the original Town Office building at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue. Like the town office
building,it is a two-story brick building set on a raised basement and consists of a central section with two wings extending to
the west. The brick is laid in a bond alternating three courses of stretchers to a course alternating headers and stretchers and a
molded brick watertable wraps around the building below the first floor openings. The main entrance is centered on the west
fagade of the south wing which is three bays wide, defined by two-story brick pilasters with wooden Doric caps. The six-panel
door is framed by full sidelights and transom lights with fluted pilasters and a frieze of rosettes and inscribed lines. The entrance
is fronted by granite steps with wrought iron railings and a more recent handicapped-accessible ramp. Above the entrance is a
double-hung 6/6 window with sidelights and lower panel, fronted by a wrought iron balconet. Other windows contain 8/8 sash
and are capped by flat arch brick lintels. In the brick pediment is a decorative wooden plaque reading"POLICE"with the town
seal in gold above. A simpler entrance consisting of a six panel door with transom is located further north on the west fagade.
A large,brick-paneled chimney rises from the slate roof as do two other, less decorative chimneys. At the north end of the
building is a garage addition, constructed in 1971.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s)the
owners/occupants played within the community.
The building at 1575 Massachusetts Avenue was the third building to be constructed in the municipal complex and was
constructed about thirty years later than the other two(Cary Memorial Hall at 1605 Massachusetts Avenue and the Town Offices
at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue).
In 1955 a building committee was established by town meeting to investigate construction of an additional town office building.
Funds for the construction were appropriated at the March town meeting the following year. The architects were Kilham,
Hopkins, Greeley and Brodie,the successors of the firm that designed Cary Memorial Hall and the original town offices in 1927.
When the building was completed in 1957 it was occupied by the Police,Assessors, Building and Health Departments. The
departments remaining within the original town office building were moved within the building to provide them with greatly
needed space. Minor renovations provided quarters for additional departments that were moved from the Barnes building(Town
Report 1957,p. 40). An open house was held at the new Town Offices/Police Station in February 1958. A garage addition was
constructed to the rear of the building in 1971.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Lexington Minute-man,January 30, 1958.
Lexington Town Reports.
Massachusetts State Archives,Building Inspector Plans (plans dated July 23, 1956).
Continuation sheet 1