Drugstores: A Success Story in Keene
New HampshireThe Threat
In spring of 2001 the City of Keene Planning Commission approved a strip mall development on the edge of downtown, with CVS/pharmacy as the major tenant. The site contained approximately twenty buildings including two 19th c. brick and slate industrial structures in imminent danger of demolition. The latter two buildings were built as worker housing for the Faulkner & Colony Mill located across the street. The mill, the largest industrial entity in Keene’s history, has since been successfully reused as the Colony Mill Marketplace.
The Preservation Effort
A local ad hoc group, Save the Mill Buildings Now!, banded together in an effort to save the buildings and find them an appropriate new use and site. Moving these buildings was the only viable option in this case since the city approved the site development, Keene has no preservation ordinance, and the buildings were not landmarked. While determined eligible by the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resource (SHPO), the buildings are not currently listed on the state or National Register of Historic Places.
Save the Mill Buildings Now! was in early and close contact with the Northeast Office regarding technical assistance and strategic planning for their grassroots effort. The landowner was willing to give the group the buildings if they could be moved before CVS construction began. Save the Mill Buildings Now! secured a mover, a temporary location for the buildings, and undertook a fundraising campaign to raise the $120,000 necessary to complete the move in under two months.
Efforts to find a new use for the buildings were given a considerable lift when the Keene Housing Authority contributed to the fundraising effort and accepted the buildings to be used at Harper Acres, an elderly housing complex located just ¼ mile away from the buildings’ original site. Scheduling and development pressure from CVS remained a looming factor in the buildings’ future. The potential, however, remained for a true win-win situation for CVS, the mill buildings, and all of Keene if the structures could be moved before site redevelopment began. The building titles changed hands and the buildings were finally moved on June 13, 2001, just two days before CVS was scheduled to begin development.
The Result
The mill workers’ buildings now have a new future with the Keene Neighborhood Housing Authority. The on-going rehabilitation of the buildings has been assisted in grants, including a Land and Community Heritage Investment Award (LCHIP) from the state designed to provide funds for historic preservation and open space conservation projects that help retain New Hampshire’s proud history. Dedicated volunteers campaigned tirelessly to acquire the monies and the land necessary to save the buildings. The National Trust served as a liaison voicing its concern to CVS while the Northeast Office provided field support and technical assistance in the way of grassroots organization. The saving of these buildings demonstrates the strength and effective cooperation between community groups and the National Trust.
For more information contact:
John Summers
Save the Mill Buildings Now!
Keene, New Hampshire
603-352-0151
