The large brick and mortar building next to the southbound Great River Bridge is the home to the Westfield Whip Mfg. Co. Inc. The company was established in 1884 and is located at 360 Elm Street. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – In a community known as “The Whip City”, the preservation of a building where whips have been made for over 100 years has got one city man asking questions.
Frank Mills, a Westfield retiree, is speaking out against the use of funds appropriated by the Commonwealth’s Community Preservation Act to preserve the Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company’s factory on Elm Street.
“This facility (The Whip Factory) and property has been in the name of the same family for better than three quarters of a century, and they didn’t lift a finger in terms of property stewardship and maintenance,” he said. “I’ve seen less vegetation on a Mayan pyramid. There were trees growing as wide around as my laterally challenged figure from inside the building and taller than the building. They didn’t just appear there, unless they were seeded by the Grimm fairy tale figure from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.”
Signed into law by the late Governor Paul Cellucci in September 2000, the Community Preservation Act today looks to “help communities preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing, and develop outdoor recreational facilities” and was adopted by the city of Westfield three years later with the establishment of it’s Community Preservation Committee.
The act looks to expand housing opportunities and construction jobs for the Commonwealth’s workforce, and supports the tourism industry through preservation of the state’s historic and natural resources.
The act has raised $1.2 billion in 55 communities statewide for community preservation funding.
The Westfield CPC consists of two members appointed by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, Chairman Joe Muto and William Porter, as well as Paul J. Byrne Jr. of the city’s Historical Commission, Vincent Olinski of the Parks and Recreation Commission, George Martin from the Conservation Commission, Daniel Kelley of the city’s Housing Authority, and Philip McEwan of the city’s Planning Board, and alternates for each.
Over 5,500 projects have been approved by the CPA, along with the creation and support of 6,721 affordable housing units, the preservation of 18,000 acres of open space, and the initiation of over 800 outdoor recreation projects statewide, in addition to 2,800 appropriations for historic preservation projects.
Carol Martin founded the Westfield Historic Industries Preservation Project, Inc. (WHIPP) in 2010 to memorialize Westfield’s contribution to the United States’ Industrial Revolution and to renovate the factory into a museum.
The CPC awarded WHIPP $72,500 in 2010 for a feasibility study, development of a business plan, and a viability assessment of establishing the museum.
In 2012, WHIPP merged with Westfield Museum Inc., with the first project taking the name of the Westfield Historic Industries Preservation Project at the 360 Elm Street factory.
In July 2012, the CPC accepted the study, and announced that the proposed museum would be expanded to include a large historical component for the city, elaborating on the second oldest city in western Massachusetts’ past, and recognizing milestones such as being the first city in the Commonwealth to elect a female mayor, and Westfield State’s status as the first coed college in the nation.
Peter Martin, president of the Westfield Museum Inc., presented two proposals to the city’s Historical Commission for the preservation of the building’s exterior, contracts that gave the commission authority over the factory’s exterior appearance.
However, it wasn’t until January 2013 that the CPC decided to grant funding to refurbish the building’s exterior after balking in November of 2012.
A total of $737,454 was requested in January, $40,000 less than in November.
In April, Westfield’s Legislative & Ordinance Committee voted unanimously to give a positive recommendation to the City Council of a resolution which authorized Mayor Knapik to enter into preservation restriction with Westfield Museum Inc., for the purpose of “restoring and maintaining the city’s last active whip factory at 360 Elm Street”, including cleaning the exterior brickwork, removing vines, and restoring the building’s original windows.
To Mills, however, the preservation of the building is a questionable investment.
“They’ve conjured up this non-profit museum, and the principles of this museum are the same principles that allowed the building and the facility to get in such deteriorated shape,” he said. “There’s been no improvement to the building that I can see other than maybe 30 years ago with a coat of paint and a bronze plaque that was affixed to the front that said ‘National Historic Site’.”
“We look at the value of a project to the community, especially for historical buildings,” Muto said. “I think the Whip Factory is a huge part of this city’s history. It’s a home run, a huge cornerstone (of the city’s history).”
Asked whether the condition of the building influenced the committee’s decision to grant funding, Muto said that, while “stewardship is an issue” when considering projects, the same could be said with renovations for City Hall, a National Historic Place which the CPC “caught heat” for funding exterior renovations for.
When asked of the condition of the factory when the CPC agreed to fund its exterior work, Muto said “It has been an operating factory this whole time.”
He also said that the CPC is strictly funding the restoration of the exterior of the factory, and that the Martins are seeking outside funding for the museum.
Muto said the main reason for the CPC’s agreement to fund the restoration was the Martins presentation to the organization.
“Miss Martin does her homework,” said Muto. “The amount of detail and preparation they put into it… she sees the big picture.”
Muto said that the committee discusses amongst itself before making decisions on which projects to grant funding to, and that the majority of projects the CPC is approached with lack the level of prepared planning of the museum proposal.
“Most projects, they’re looking for funding, but have no plan going forward,” he said.
“This is a good project,” Peter Martin said. “(We are) a non-profit that’s run for the benefit of the Westfield community. This is Westfield’s museum.”
He said that many cities and towns in Massachusetts have museums that aren’t of the caliber they should be.
“So many communities will have their local museum open only four days a year,” he said. “They can’t sustain it. You want to have a location people can go to when they want to, when people come in to have their guests in Westfield, when Westfield State students want to take their parents someplace. We want a sustainable museum.”
“It is truly unique,” Carol Martin said of her family’s whip factory. “Every time you get involved with something like this, you think you’re doing something unique, but in this case, it actually is. There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world.”
