Little Red Schoolhouse facing west (Stone dorm in immediate background)
Two years after a major controversy arose over the eviction of a preschool business that used a (somewhat) historic building on their campus, Amherst College has decided the cute little brick building needs to come down ... along with the four nearby dorms -- Pond, Crossett, Stone, and Coolidge.
The extensive demolitions are the result of the proposed new science center construction project.
Since the building is over 50 years old the Amherst Historical Commission at their May 19th meeting will hold a public hearing on the matter. At most the Commission can impose a one-year demolition delay.
Amherst College is the #1 landowner in town as well as the #1 taxpayer (around $500,000 this year) due to houses owned and rented to college employees; and the Lord Jeffery Inn and Amherst Golf Course which are taxed like any other commercial property in town.
In addition the college donates $90,000 for Payment In Lieu Of Taxes to cover Amherst Fire Department services.
Little Red Schoolhouse facing east
In other words they are a good customer/partner to the town.
And since the Little Red Schoolhouse is somewhat centrally located on their property and it's looking pretty sad these days, the Historical Commission should let it die a quick noble death.
I don't think it looks sad at all. It's a beautiful building both inside and put and it is a crime that Amherst College wants to tear it down. They treated the pre - school shabbily and without honor and now they want to do the same thing to the building housing the school. They have no shame. I hope the historical commission forces them to have a one year delay.
ReplyDeleteAnd then what?
ReplyDeleteThey tear it down.
They did not treat anyone shabilly. They are a college not a daycare center. Not a single one of their students has a child.
ReplyDeleteThat's OK. I want them to have the delay. Let them feel some pain. They sure inflicted a lot of pain on the Little Red families.
ReplyDeleteDo you think in general there should never be one year delays on the destruction of historical buildings? I thought you were generally in favor of them but I might be mistaken.
Ha! Listen to that banana. That building looks like a 60s bank without a drive through. No one will miss it. Oh forgot... progress. A dangerous word in the town of Amherst. Anyway you slice it, that building will be toast, Liberal field makers or not.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about this, really. It was a nice little secret preschool for the in-crowd to send their kids to.
ReplyDeleteI raised my kids here and never even heard of this place existing until they were in high school. It was an elitist institution and frankly we are better off without it.
Now it's gone, so let Amherst College do what it wants with it. The demolition delay business is a crock of shit. What a waste of everyone's time.
It's a shame to see such a nice building go. Buildings like that simply don't get built anymore. That's why I love what UMass is doing to preserve South College, Old Chapel and the West Experiment Station.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the plan for the loss of student housing if they tear those dorms down?
Not sure exactly, but I know they will not be sending any of their students into the tight Amherst rental market.
ReplyDeleteLittle Red was not a daycare center. It was a preschool. Big difference. Also it was not elitist. I sent my kids there and I was a single mom decidedly lower middle class. If you don't know Little Red was a preschool then you surely don't know the story of how they were treated.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a post that doesn't use a photo from your drone.
ReplyDeleteIt might have been a preschool, but it's now a closed preschool. Amherst has lots of schools that have been torn down, including the original Amherst Academy on Amity Street, and the old high school. Time marches on.
ReplyDeleteThe closing of Skinner preschool at UMass was a great loss for Amherst families as well
ReplyDeleteNotice how Amherst College needs to obtain a Demo Permit from the Town while UMASS does NOT.
ReplyDeleteNow why would that be, Larry?
And (a) what ever became of the leveled "historical" trolley stop/urine swamp (as North Pleasant Street was raised in the years since 1887, the floor of the trolley shelter became the lowest thing around), and (b) imagine what would happen were this to have been at Amherst College.
"The closing of Skinner preschool at UMass was a great loss for Amherst families as well."
ReplyDeleteThat's what happens when you go from teaching young ladies how to be housewives to teaching them how to be medical professionals.
(Ever notice the words "Home Economics" chiseled into the side of Skinner?) It took a half century, but UMass replaced the Home Economics program with the Nursing Program -- and your beloved preschool was a casualty of that.
Or would you prefer to have had the UM students forced to major in
Home Ec? Somehow, if it meant that you got a preschool, I sorta think you both would and that it wouldn't harm your allegedly liberal conscience...
After all, they are only UMass students...
The hell you talking about, Ed. Art Barn, trolley station.. had to go before historical committee. Duh.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the preschool or daycare debate. Preschool usually means it has limited hours that are not working mom friendly. Also comes at a higher cost. Even the preschool at Crocker has limited hours.
ReplyDeleteSo, is town meeting considered preschool or daycare? It has limited hours but is free to attend. And it keeps our most troublesome citizens occupied while the rest of us enjoy warm spring evenings outdoors...
ReplyDeleteI went to Lil' Red back in the late '70s and what a nurturing environment they provided. Students got a kick out of little preschoolers riding bikes around the loop. Oh, and the big Red building blocks they had (which provided so much enjoyment, sensory & etc.) that would never be allowed in a preschool nowadays...classic. Mrs King, if you're out there...Thank You.
ReplyDeleteDid you see where the replacement dorms are going to be?
ReplyDelete