'Literally collapsing.' Bourne board OKs camp lodge demolition at old Animal Rescue site
BOURNE — The Historical Commission has voted 2-1 with two abstentions to approve demolishing the old but still distinctive main house on the former Baxendale family property along Squeteague Harbor.
The Dec. 12 decision came after brief discussion about the barnyard red structure that once dominated the former Animal Rescue League of Boston summer camp for kids.
A handful of Cataumet residents urged the board to approve a demolition delay order.
Preservationist carpenter Jack MacDonald of Pocasset told the commission the building could be moved and preserved if the public was given time to consider. That idea was not initially opposed by current property owner Michael Intoccia of Megansett By The Bay LLC.
Megansett By The Bay, based in Sharon, bought the 3-acre property at 96 Megansett Road in 2007 for $3 million , according to town assessing records. The property is currently assessed at $2.8 million.
John York of Cataumet had provided the commission with background history related to the Baxendale family and how they developed the property.
'Literally collapsing into the marsh,' owner's lawyer says
Attorney Michael Watsky, representing Intoccia, said the main house is not worth saving.
The structure, he said, that falls under commission jurisdiction is “failing and literally collapsing into the marsh with no unique architectural features. It is decrepit."
The commission in November had wrestled with the idea of issuing a demolition delay order for all structures on the property. Smaller buildings, however, ultimately did not fit in the panel’s preservation jurisdiction.
Demolition approved for Patuisset cottage
The commission in other business routinely approved demolition of a cottage at 14 Kennebec Ave. on Patuisset Island on Pocasset, and a 1926-built house at 160 Clark Road at Sagamore Beach.
The Patuisset structure and garage will be razed to make way for a larger Cape-style house with white cedar shingles and a farmer’s style porch. Bourne contractor Walter Sullivan said the new home will be “consistent with others in the neighborhood.”
The cottage sits amid island neighborhoods, including one known as ‘Little Taunton’ for decades, that have been transformed from summer cottage colony status to year-round homes.
Karen M. Tucci owns the structure in the Hen Cove neighborhood, according to local assessing records.
Distinctive Sagamore Beach home will be razed
The Clark Road structure’s roof is leaking, and there are rot, black mold and electrical code problems as well as structural issues, the commission was told. The house has not been occupied year-round for more than 30 years, according to new property owner Richard Whittington of Canton, a custom homebuilder for 30 years with early work in The Pinehills at Manomet.
The Sagamore Beach structure involves a Bourne historical footnote. The late U.S. House Speaker Joseph Martin, a Republican from Attleboro, spent summers there while in office.
No appeals of the commission's votes on the three properties were filed as of Monday afternoon, according to the Bourne town clerk's office.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Red summer camp lodge on Bourne shoreline to be torn down after vote
