Old house in Bourne catches attention of preservationists; savior may emerge
BOURNE — The select board has endorsed a historical commission resolution of municipal interest to save the so-called "oldest house in Bourne", at 9 Sandwich Road, from the wrecking ball.
Bourne Historical Society trustees, meanwhile, have voted to take ownership of the historic structure and ultimately move it to the Aptucxet Trading Post campus off Shore and Aptucxet roads, next to the canal.
The society will take a vote on ownership of the Keene House, stewardship and the moving project, at a meeting March 25 at 10 a.m. in the Bourne Historical Center at Keene Street, Bourne village.
The move would be conditional on securing $250,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds at the May 1 annual town meeting. A demolition-delay order is set to expire May 10.
There are few preservation tomorrows remaining for the Keene House.
“Our goal is to approve an important piece of local history,” society president Diane Flynn said in an e-mail update.
Select board member Mary Jane Mastrangelo is the preservation effort liaison. Assistant Town Administrator Liz Hartsgrove is also involved.
'If we don't take action' the 330-year-old house could be destroyed
The historical commission appreciates the municipal interest.
“It’s almost essential the town get involved in this,” member Karl Spilhaus said. “If we don’t take action as a community, it’s very likely the house will be destroyed. The demolition-delay order is ending.”
The select board's involvement may add substance to the fight to save the house.
Bourne Historical Society info:Read more about the Perry-Ellis-Keene House in Bourne
But Town Administrator Marlene McCollem initially did not support town involvement.
“I can’t recommend you investigate a property you don’t own,” she told the select board Feb. 7. “We can’t spend public money on private property. There is basic confusion on this at every level. We can’t spend vast resources on a non-town-owned asset.”
Support for CPA money to preserve the house not universal
The Capital Outlay Committee, meanwhile, does not support using CPA money, given that neither an engineer nor a mover have examined the house.
What makes CPA funding challenging is that Keene House owner Vincent Michienzi refuses to allow town Building Inspector Ken Murphy access to the property.
CPA Chairman Barry Johnson suggests a separate town meeting article, not one included in combined CPA warrant requests. Co-funding applicants are the town commission and private historical society.
Keene House dates back to the 1600s
The gray clapboard structure dates to 1690. Owners have been families with old Cape Cod names: Perry, Swift, Ellis, Blackwell, Hamblen and Keene.
Michienzi bought the property in 2013 for $275,000, to provide more parking for his Trading Post Corners medical center across the street. He has planned to demolish the house for two years, disgorging tenants and urging historical groups to move the structure; valued by the town at $471,300. He remains in a wait-and-see mode.
Spilhaus said discussions with Michienzi have been reasonable. Spilhaus said a moving contractor estimated a move at $100,000 but later reduced that estimate by half.
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In a wider context, commission acting Chair Blanche Cody says history plays its obvious part in the Sandwich Road neighborhood, the commercial hub of Bourne at the end of the 19th century. The house has survived three centuries. But more than that, she said on Feb. 13, community heritage comes into play with the Keene House story.
If the house once owned by late Bourne historian/author Betsey D. Keene is lost to the wrecking ball, it would mark dramatic neighborhood change. There could be more to come, Cody suggests, especially if a survey of neighboring Bourne Public Library determines the location is no longer adequate.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne board backs effort to save historic Keene House
