Historical Commission Can’t Muster a Quorum: Only Two Members Remain

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Historical Commission, June 23, 2025

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

The two remaining members of the Historical Commission, Chair Robin Fordham and Hetty Startup, met on June 23 with staff liaison Walker Powell with an agenda to consider applications for the historic barn preservation program, comments for Eversource regarding historic or archeological resources in the right of way of their power lines, and a public hearing on a demolition delay for 37 North Pleasant Street. The two commissioners present from the seven-member commission did not constitute a quorum, so no business could happen.

The PAL (Public Archeology Laboratory) representative did ask in public comment whether the members present had any comments about the report they had received. The packet for the meeting containing the reprot has not yet been publicly posted.  According to that report only a very small section of the 27-mile Eversource right of way is in Amherst, and it has no known artifacts that would be impacted by the maintenance of the power lines’ right of way.

With regard to the public hearing held by the Amherst Historical Commission in March, 2021 on Barry Roberts’ plans to demolish 37/41 North Pleasant Street, home to McMurphy’s Uptown Tavern, the Amherst Typewriter Shop, and the rear portion of the building that housed the Amherst Boys and Girls Club until 2020 and, before that, the Knights of Columbus, the commissioners present determined that the Commission had approved demolition in 2021, and nothing has been found to change its historical significance since then.

Former Planning Director Jonathan Tucker and former planner Ben Breger researched the history of the building. It first appears on maps in 1888 and was home to numerous small businesses, such as a bakery, a drapery shop, and a restaurant, none of historical significance. At the time of the 2021 hearing, Roberts’ attorney Tom Reidy of Bacon, Wilson LLC said that the building was “not in good shape.” He said that the south wall was bowed out, causing the roof to sag, and that the foundation was a “hodgepodge” of different materials. The current structure has undergone numerous modifications including vinyl siding and modern style windows. The building is not in the Central Historic District, which ends at the building housing Antonio’s Pizzeria next door. 

According to the town’s Historic Preservation bylaw, a permit for demolition expires after two years. Roberts’ application states that he is planning to construct a two-story mixed-use building on the site. 

Due to the pending vacation of the chair and lack of appointment of new members, the commission will not meet again until August at the earliest. There are no known pending projects needing approval.