Threatened: Paul Revere's Mill and Barn
By Gianna Palmer | Online Only | June 16, 2008
A developer has requested a demolition permit for the Revere & Sons Mill, located 14 miles outside Boston, which closed last year.
Credit: George Comeau
At age 65, instead of settling down, Paul Revere chose to embark on the largest business undertaking of his life. In 1801 Revere put up $25,000 to found the nation's first copper-rolling mill in Canton, Mass. That mill, which produced the copper for the hull of the U.S.S. Constitution and the dome of the Massachusetts State House, is now in jeopardy.
Last month Napleton Acquisitions LLC, the Chicago-based developer that purchased the mill in 2007, submitted a demolition request for the mill and the nearby J. W. Revere barn.
Napleton's lack of specific building plans for the site or assurance that the demolition permits, if granted, will not be used, has left some Massachusetts residents uneasy, including Paul Revere III, a direct descendent of the mill's founder and an attorney who focuses on environmental and land-use matters.
"To propose to tear down the buildings without any future plan for the property is simply wrong," Revere says. "I'd probably be the first to say, 'What can we do to preserve them?'"
Attorney Paul Schneiders, who represents Canton Development Properties LLC, Napleton's parent company, told the Canton Citizen that his client does not want to demolish the two historical buildings and ideally would like to build around them.
In April Napleton presented a rezoning proposal to the town's planning board that included plans to spend $2 million on renovating the Revere buildings. But on May 19, after the planning board rejected that proposal, Napleton submitted the demolition request.
Canton resident George Comeau, who serves on the town's historical commission, created a Web site to raise awareness of the situation regarding the property.
"The small part that I want to play is [to ensure] that the nation understands what they have to lose at the hands of a developer," Comeau says. "Permits in the pocket are very scary things. I just want to use the little time we have left in the process to sound the alarm," he says. "That's one of the things that Revere taught us is to sound the alarm when it's appropriate, not to be an alarmist."
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Comments
Submitted by Unveilingnat'ltreasure at: July 4, 2008
As a long term Canton resident, I thought I knew every inch of the town. I have never seen the Revere buildings and their existence was only a rumor to me until the the past couple of years. I was close friends with someone who lived across the street from the Plymouth Rubber complex. To my knowledge, the entrance to the property was gated, and the grounds surrounded with tall, barbed wire topped chain link fencing. Rumors abounded that there was toxic materials inside, and for sure, the odor of the toxins released from the plant could be smelled regularly at Canton High where I was a student. I never dared venture near this property and had never heard of it's affiliation with Paul Revere. Prior to the past two years or so, I heard that there was some building or mill affiliated with Revere, but that it was located on Washington St. across from Shepards Pond, and that it was no longer standing. This was a big surprise that there are actually historic buildings still standing in Canton which were owned and run by Revere. A big surprise to a local that Canton contains a National Treasure.
Submitted by Historicus at: July 3, 2008
Public comment period is open as the Canton Historical Commision begins the process of determining whether to place a six-month demolition delay on the final two remaining Revere & Sons buildings on the site. You may email your comments to: geocomeau@gmail.com or mail your letters to: Canton Historical Commission, Memorial Hall, Canton, MA 02021 - Attn: Wally Gibbs, Chairman. The public hearing will be held on Thursday, August 14, 2008 at the Canton Public Library Community Meeting Room 7:30 PM.
Submitted by Historicus at: June 21, 2008
In response to LRS, while these are excellent points, it is important to point out that these buildings were only recently purchased as part of a developer speculating on this property. So, hardly the 11th hour. As for Mr. Revere, his awareness is recent due to the fact that he does not live in the area and it was brought to his attention within the last two months. Finally, and to your point, the developer was abundantly aware of the historic nature of the buildings, they are but one liability/asset of this property. The land has been used for industry since 1701 and the buildings are on the State Register of Historic Places and eligible for the National Register. But, this is still America and a private property owner is free to destroy such buildings, there is no preclusion. The photos are deceiving, these structures - in capable hands - are perfect spots for adaptive reuse and would be a centerpiece of any development. For more information, visit the website and keep fighting for our history. And, if anyone can urge the Napleton Company in Chicago, Illinois to protect our heritage, please do so.
Submitted by patmatricia at: June 19, 2008
IAs Historical Preservation and Interior Design are my passion, I would see it as an opportunity for creativity and a great challenge to preserve our nations history.
Submitted by LRS at: June 19, 2008
Agreed that it would be an historic tragedy to lose either of these early Federal period buildings. However, WHY, may I ask, are so many of these historic structures left to decay (especially the mill photo) and be lost to posterity until the eleventh hour?! Who knows to what mundane and perhaps ridiculous uses the J.W. Mill in parituclar has been put over the decades? And "Paul Revere III, a direct descendent of the mill's founder and an attorney who focuses on environmental and land-use matters?" Just where has he been with all his environmental and land-use law skills? Are we supposed to believe that HE didn't know where and what the property is? Why should anyone expect the development company to be any more appreciative of the properties' histories than historians and Revere's own direct descendents. Yet another case of closing the barn door after the horse is [almost] out.
Submitted by Bev at: June 18, 2008
This should be saved. Its our history.