Technical Assistance Supports Stoneham Historic Preservation Plan
By Lindsay Randall, Senior Regional Humanities Specialist, and Sarah Scott, Senior Regional Land Use and Historic Preservation Planner
October 28, 2024 – When you think about what makes the place where you live special, do you think about its history, its old buildings, or its historic landscapes? If so, you’re not alone! During the planning process for MetroCommon 2050, Greater Boston’s long-range regional plan, MAPC analyzed local comprehensive community plans to understand regional planning priorities. “Preserve history” ranked fourth among the top 20 local planning priorities. In response, one of the MetroCommon goals directly addresses the importance of “Thriving Arts, Culture, and Heritage.”
While MAPC has long helped communities in our region preserve history, it only recently developed a historic preservation plan for one. In 2023, the Town of Stoneham selected MAPC through a competitive bid to work with the Town to prepare its first historic preservation plan. The plan was supported by a Survey and Planning Grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, with matching funds provided by the Town of Stoneham and additional funding provided by District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) through MAPC.
Although now considered a mature suburb, Stoneham was once a thriving industrial center that earned the nickname “Shoe Town.” Today, the town is largely residential, with a small commercial and industrial base and a historic downtown that has struggled to attract and retain retail tenants. Due to its minimal public transit, Stoneham did not see the same development interest as some of its neighbors with commuter rail stations. However, as housing demand has continued to outpace supply in the region, Stoneham has started to see increased development activity. This has led to the demolition of many old and historic buildings, especially small worker’s cottages on large lots.
As Stoneham was gearing up to celebrate the 300th anniversary of becoming a town, it realized that it needed a holistic approach to preserving its historic built environment – one that balanced historic preservation with other community goals. This approach is shared by MAPC, which recognizes that the promotion of history and heritage can’t be an end in and of itself. The resulting historic preservation plan reflects a conscious effort to respect the town’s past while moving forward sustainably in all aspects of growth.
Here are a few ways that the project team incorporated this approach:
- We interviewed 22 key stakeholders through a series of one-on-one interviews at the beginning of the planning process to better understand how people in Stoneham perceive historic preservation goals and efforts. Interviewees include Town staff, residents who serve on Town boards and committees, local business owners, development professionals, and staff from the Department of Conservation and Recreation. In these interviews, we asked how history and heritage intersect with stakeholders’ work to better understand how to dovetail historic preservation with existing priorities.
- We highlighted people and histories that have been underrepresented in history making, such as women, enslaved laborers, and immigrants. This is woven throughout the plan, including the historic context, the callouts of notable historic resources, the questions we asked during community engagement, and the recommendations.
- We connected the 20 recommendations to other Town plans and policies to demonstrate that the historic preservation plan doesn’t exist in a vacuum and that implementing these recommendations will also support other Town priorities.
The Town is already moving forward with implementing the plan. The Historical Commission is preparing a grant application to fund a survey master plan, which is one of the top three recommendations of the historic preservation plan. The survey plan will provide a framework for updating the Town’s historic resource inventory by identifying key historic contexts and recommending how to structure future survey efforts. This recommendation is a priority because having a complete inventory of historic resources is an important foundation for any community. Unfortunately, most communities in Massachusetts have out of date inventories, which makes proactive planning and decision-making difficult.
Is your community interested in developing a historic preservation plan? The Massachusetts Historical Commission is accepting letters of intent for the Fiscal Year 2025 round of the Survey and Planning Grant through November 15. Note that projects funded through this grant require a competitive bidding process. If your community is interested in working with MAPC staff to advance historic preservation goals and you have municipal funding to do so, you can directly contract with us. If funding is an obstacle, you may also want to consider applying for MAPC’s Technical Assistance Program (TAP). Through TAP, MAPC staff are able to assist cities and towns with implementing projects that are beneficial to the community and address regional priorities. Learn more and apply on the TAP web page.
Learn more about the Stoneham Historic Preservation Plan on the project webpage and our history and heritage practice area at mapc.org/our-work/expertise/arts-and-culture/history-and-heritage/.