Here's why Sanford-Springvale Historical Society demolished a neighboring building

Shawn P. Sullivan, Portsmouth Herald
·3 min read
Seen here in 1890, this house on Main Street in Springvale, Maine, was the home of a pharmacist and then a dentist throughout its years. The house was demolished on Feb. 15, 2022.
Seen here in 1890, this house on Main Street in Springvale, Maine, was the home of a pharmacist and then a dentist throughout its years. The house was demolished on Feb. 15, 2022.

SPRINGVALE, Maine — Harland Eastman recently drove to meet friends at a local diner and saw a site no one in Sanford-Springvale had seen in more than 140 years: an unobstructed view of the entire south side of the local historical museum at 505 Main St.

“It’s a fantastic view of this building,” Eastman said, during a recent interview at the museum.

For the first time in more than 140 years, the entire south side of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum at 505 Main St. in Sanford, Maine, can be seen upon approach. The local historical society purchased and demolished the decrepit home that had long stood in the newly cleared space.
For the first time in more than 140 years, the entire south side of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum at 505 Main St. in Sanford, Maine, can be seen upon approach. The local historical society purchased and demolished the decrepit home that had long stood in the newly cleared space.

That new vantage point had been blocked since the 1880s by a home that was built for a local pharmacist, Charles H. Pierce, according to Eastman. Back then, the museum had been the local town hall. In the latter part of the 20th century, a local dentist, Donald Warner, purchased the home once it passed out of the Pierce family and operated his practice there.

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The house had been vacant for a few years when a local crew, led by developer Joe Sevigny, demolished it Feb. 15. Eastman said he had passed the house while running an errand that morning. Three hours later, as he made his way to the diner, it was gone.

“I was so astonished,” Eastman said. “It came down in one fell swoop."

Fire concerns led to demolition

Sanford-Springvale Historical Society President Harland Eastman looks out the window of the museum at 505 Main St. in Springvale, Maine, to see the newly cleared space next door on Friday, March 11, 2022. The historical society is expecting to transform the space into a fresh lawn later this year.
Sanford-Springvale Historical Society President Harland Eastman looks out the window of the museum at 505 Main St. in Springvale, Maine, to see the newly cleared space next door on Friday, March 11, 2022. The historical society is expecting to transform the space into a fresh lawn later this year.

In November, the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society purchased the home through the generosity of a local benefactor who wishes not to be identified. According to Eastman, the historical society had had its eye on the vacant home for a few years for one reason: concern that the vacant and decrepit structure would catch fire somehow and its flames would spread to the museum that was close next door.

“We knew that the house was derelict,” Eastman said. “Only when we purchased it and entered it the first time did we realize it was completely gutted on the inside. Everything was gone – floors, doors, ceilings, woodwork, plaster, insulation . . .”

The historical society is hoping to have the newly cleared space landscaped into a fresh lawn, complete with some shrubbery and perhaps some granite benches, sometime this spring. Some fundraising will be necessary, according to Eastman.

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Several new, diagonal parking spaces will be painted alongside the hedges at the southernmost end of the land, Eastman said. Anyone who has visited the museum knows that designated parking is limited to a few spaces in back of the building.

Eastman said people will access the new spaces in the usual way, through the driveway in between the museum and the Goodwin House next door. The new area will be exit-only for those who park in the spaces created there.

Second expansion for museum

A basic, hand-drawn sketch shows what the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society is planning to do to transform the property it recently acquired next door to the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum at 505 Main Street in Springvale, Maine.
A basic, hand-drawn sketch shows what the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society is planning to do to transform the property it recently acquired next door to the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum at 505 Main Street in Springvale, Maine.

The acquisition of the former Pierce home is the historical society’s second expansion in recent years. In 2014, the organization bought the Goodwin House next door at 503 Main Street. Since then, the 1899 home has served two purposes: storage on the second floor and, below, a chance for the public to get a glimpse of how people lived during the Victorian Era more than a hundred years ago.

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“It’s an untouched example of Victorian architecture,” Eastman said.

The historical museum opened in 2005. For decades, its collection had been kept in cramped storage inside the City Hall Annex, out of the public eye.

Eastman said he is pleased to see the museum expand into a “campus” for the historical society in recent years.

“It’s very gratifying for me,” said Eastman, who grew up a few houses down from the museum and has led the historical society for decades.

Editor's note: Reporter Shawn Sullivan is a member of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society's board of directors.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Sanford-Springvale Historical Society creates new view in Maine city