NORTHAMPTON — The Historical Commission voted unanimously Monday night to impose a yearlong demolition delay on the “Louise Finn” house at 1 Denniston Place, a roughly 175-year-old home that Cooley Dickinson Hospital wants to tear down.
The home, which Cooley Dickinson dedicated in 2009 to longtime midwife Louise Finn, is believed to have ties to the anti-slavery movement. The hospital has said bringing the building up to code for medical use is not financially feasible.
Under the city’s Demolition Review Ordinance, the Historical Commission has the authority to delay a project’s demolition for up to a year following an applicant’s initial request if the commission views it as “historically significant” or possessing “architectural or cultural merit.”
The building opened as Cooley Dickinson’s Center for Midwifery in 2008 and is listed on the State Register of Historic Places.
John Atwater, facilities manager at Mass General Brigham, which owns Cooley Dickinson, first presented plans to demolish the house to the commission on Aug. 31.
“At the end of the day, it’s not financially prudent for us to use the money that we have to bring that building up to code for something that wouldn’t, at the end of the day, be usable for patient care,” Atwater said at that meeting. “It doesn’t meet the codes that are required. We have guidelines that we must follow when we design-build medical facilities, the FGI Guidelines, for healthcare.”
The FGI Guidelines are design standards for healthcare facilities published by the Facility Guidelines Institute.
Atwater said Aug. 31 that bringing the building up to code would cost about $1 million, including $500,000 to repair the foundation. In response, the commission asked the hospital to return with a more thorough assessment of the damage.
Atwater returned Monday night with Thomas Hartman, principal at Coldham & Hartman Architects, who told the commission the building is structurally sound.
“The basement is what you would expect for a building of that age. It’s a combination of brick and field stone, it’s not poured concrete. The building itself is structurally not impaired, but mechanical systems throughout are deficient and they have been empty for a couple years,” Hartman said. “The amount of money it would take to turn that into a purpose-built medical facility for which it’s intended … doesn’t make economic sense.”
Commissioner Dylan Gaffney previously shared research he conducted linking the property’s 1850s owner Albion Peck to the anti-slavery movement through his involvement with the Free Soil Party.
The home took on added local significance in 2009, when Cooley Dickinson dedicated it to Finn, who worked as a midwife for 53 years and advocated for women’s and families’ comfort during childbirth.
During public comment, Finn’s son-in-law, Michael O’Rourke, echoed remarks he and his wife Jean O’Rourke (Finn’s daughter), made at the previous meeting. He explained that the home’s ties to the abolitionist movement, and its later dedication to his mother-in-law, made it too important to demolish.
“My mother-in-law Louise walked through that door, the same space, dedicated her life to the right of every family, including same-sex couples, to welcome life into this world with love, equality and dignity,” O’Rourke said. “Two different eras, but the same spirit of eternal goodness lived under that single roof. Mass General Brigham wants to sever that thread.”
Finn’s youngest daughter, Jayne Finn, spoke Monday night, explaining that her mother would not have wanted her name associated with any form of controversy or “conflict” with the hospital.
“I just feel that she would be uncomfortable with any kind of conflict with Cooley Dickinson and her name being attached to that. If you guys feel that the home should be preserved, that’s wonderful; I am not saying that the home should be taken down,” Jane Finn said. “It’s just uncomfortable when Louise Finn’s name is thrown out there, especially if it’s in some kind of conflict with the hospital.”
Historical Commission Chair Martha Lyon, discussing Hartman’s testimony, said that since the building is structurally sound and bears historical significance that’s “important to the city,” it would be “a bit of a tragedy” to lose it.
Lyon added that should the house be demolished in a year, she hopes the hospital will consider the streetscape surrounding the home in its redevelopment plans, which she described as an “important gateway” into the downtown.
“What we’re struggling with is that this building does have a place in Northampton’s history. It also has a pretty prominent role in the streetscape. It appears to be structurally sound. In fact, you said the foundation is sound, so it’s not going to fall over,” Lyon said. “I would only hope that during the year, there be some consideration of what would be the options going forward because it’s pretty clear that this is more than just a building.”
