AMHERST – A potential land sale that would have provided money for the Amherst Historical Society and expansion and renovation options for the Jones Library is off the table after Town Meeting rejected a rezoning request on Monday.
But even with the rezoning defeated, the directors of the historical society, who oversee the Strong House Museum and property at 67 Amity St., intend to pursue other aspects related to the land sale, including seeking approval to change the terms of the will by which it obtained the property more than a century ago.
“Our effort to secure reasonable deviation from the terms of the (Sarah E.) Emerson will goes forward, so that the museum will be able to meet the needs of today’s society as it enters its second century,” said Select Board member James Wald, who is president emeritus of the historical society.
Wald said the rezoning loss also won’t change the possibility of having more physical connections between the two institutions.
“Because of our similar missions and needs, the two organizations do indeed plan to continue consulting and collaborating,” Wald said.
The need to change Emerson’s will was planned even before the library was considering undertaking its project and potentially acquiring some of the historical society’s land.
“Even without the land sale, it (amending the will) remains our most important current goal,” Wald said.
Bonnie MacCracken, treasurer for the society, told Town Meeting Monday that Emerson didn’t foresee that her will would pose hardships for the museum, including needed renovations that could include climate-controlled storage space and making the building handicap accessible.
“We have a very old house and we want to preserve it,” MacCracken said.
The Strong House Museum is a 1750s building constructed in Georgian-style by Nehemiah Strong.
The will on file in Hampshire Probate Court is explicit in “that there shall be no additions to nor alterations in structure of said house, and that no buildings shall ever be erected on any part of the land not now occupied by buildings. If these conditions are not complied with, the property shall be forfeited to the Massachusetts Historical Society.”
The will is so rigid, in fact, that Emerson’s second-floor bedroom remains intact exactly as it was when she died, with a four-poster bed in the middle and other belongings, including a night dress, chamber pot and glasses, still in place.
The terms of the will prompted Sarah McKee, a former president of the trustees, to advise Town Meeting to hold off on rezoning until the matter is settled by the public charities division of the state attorney general’s office.
“If it breaks the will, at that time it can ask for rezoning again,” McKee said.
The rezoning from general residence to general business was needed because if any portion of the 3/4-acre property is sold, it would turn the remaining land out of compliance with town zoning regulations.
Town Meeting’s decision is the second stumbling block after an $18,000 request for Community Preservation Act funding from the historical society, which would have paid for legal expenses to amend the will, was turned down by the CPA Committee in March.
No funding source has yet been identified to do this work, Wald said.
Meanwhile, the library project remains an opportunity to bring together the collections, with the library having a vast trove of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost materials and other paper and photographic records, with the history museum holding more than 7,000 objects, such as furniture and clothes, including a white dress worn by Dickinson.
MacCracken said the museum is running out of space because the collection has grown, both from donations — some left in bags dropped at the door of the museum — and others given by families who find artifacts in their homes.
Wald said he believes that the library remains committed to setting aside some space in its project for climate-controlled storage and processing of artifacts for the museum.
“As things stand, the library is still including space for the history museum’s collections in its building program,” Wald said.
The land sale had the potential to bring money to the historical society, but MacCracken said its annual operating budget of about $60,000 is already in the black.
Wald said this has been accomplished because the museum is run on a shoestring budget and gets money from memberships, fundraising events, donations and solicitations and CPA money. In fact, $20,000 in CPA money will pay for carpentry work at the museum, to be done before painting, and $4,500 for dendrochronology of the structure, which is the study of wood used in the building.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
