WESTFIELD – The Community Preservation Commission voted Thursday to allocate up to $25,000 to preserve the “Little Red Schoolhouse” in Wyben at the request of the Westfield Historical Commission.
Historical Commission Chairwoman Kitt Milligan and Walter Fogg who lives on the “outskirts of Wyben on Russellville Road, gave an hour -long presentation on the city’s last one-room schoolhouse, which at one time served all of the children of this area of the city, at least until they attended high school.
The residents of Wyben purchased the property, on which the school stands today, in 1861 for $62.50, right after a mob, incited by an abolitionist speech, burned down the former schoolhouse.
The 30-by-22-foot building is currently owned by the School Department, which has budgeted $4,000 for an architectural assessment of the building to determine the scope of preservation work required.
City Planner Jay Vinskey presented the request for the $25,000 to the CPC, explaining that those funds would be used “to stabilize the building’s roof and foundation,” but added that “preservation of a building of local significance” will require a greater investment of Community Preservation Act funding.
“It needs a lot more work than just stabilization. This is a commitment to fund more money for preservation,” Vinskey said. “There is hope that the stabilization can be done before next winter.”
Commissioner Vince Olinski, representing the Park & Recreation Commission, said that with other preservation projects, there was more information available to the commission, including the scope of work needed and estimates for the total preservation project cost.
“I’m a little concerned that we don’t have all of these steps in place,” Olinski said.
Milligan said that because the building is a small wood and brick structure the cost of preservation should not exceed $100,000 and that the project will have an educational component similar to the Dewey House on South Maple Street which is currently being repaired with CPA funding.
“You will not have another opportunity like this in Westfield,” Fogg said. “If this building goes, there is nothing else to replace a Civil War structure.”
“The foundation is brick and needs to be reset,” he sadi. “The building was originally white with dark green trim because whitewash was the cheapest paint available. I hope you restore it to that original appearance.”
Fogg said that that area of the city was originally called “West Farms” and was not called Wyben until the U.S. Postal Service agreed to set up a post office in the general store but already had a “West Farms” post office in Northampton.
Fogg said the school building has also been used for religious services and as a community center.
The commission continued its discussion and asked other questions as to how the building would be maintained in the future, how it would be utilized by the city, and if other features, such as replacing the six0seat outhouse attached to the east side of the building, would need to be retrofitted with functional bathrooms that comply with American with Disabilities Act requirements.
“What I’m hearing is that for now we just stabilize the building,” Olinski said, “and that we’d preserve it sometime in the future.”
Fogg said that “I see this as a community program where people get involved in the light maintenance aspect. We could try to get federal recognition as a historic structure.”
Commission William Onyski, representing the Planning Board, questioned if the CPC, which meets quarterly, could wait for the architectural assessment to be performed through the School Department before acting on the funding.
Vinskey said the commission will not convene again until November, which would probably be too late to secure the envelope of the building before onset of winter.
The commission then voted to approve the $25,000 funding request contingent upon its, and the Historical Commission’s, review of the architectural report from the School Department.
“There is no doubt that this project is supported by this committee,” CPC Chairman Joe Muto said. “We are approving up to $25,000 contingent upon our future review of the architectural report.”
