By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
File photo
Northborough – Kathleen Polanowicz, chair of the White Cliffs Committee, provided an update on the project to the Board of Selectmen at the board’s Feb. 25 meeting.
“We’ve had some really good progress,” she said.
Polanowicz said the committee voted unanimously in October 2018 to award a contract to DBVW, an architectural firm based in Providence, R.I. That contract was finalized on Jan. 7.
“We had a meeting with them late last week and hear their initial update on where they are on the project,” Polanowicz remarked. “They hit the ground running, they were over there the next day [Jan. 8] and they’ve been doing laser surveys of the interior and exterior of the building so that we can access that information.”
“The most exciting thing that we learned [was that] the initial assessment of the building indicated that the historic portion of the building was in much better condition than what the architects had anticipated,” she added.
The other thing that was “super exciting” she added, was that DBVW believes that they have identified the original architect of the building to be Benjamin Hammett Seabury, based on an article in the June 3, 1893 issue of the “Springfield Republican” newspaper. This information is important for historic designations, potential funding and could lead to finding original blueprints which are not in the town’s possession.
Polanowicz thanked the Northborough Police Department for their work to address security of the building and property and she also acknowledged DPW for their work as well.
The White Cliffs Committee will meet again on April 2 at 10 a.m. at Northborough Town Hall, 63 Main St. Meetings are open to the public. For more information email Kathleen Polanowicz at [email protected].
