Letter: No Local Historic District At 125 Highland Ave.

SOMERVILLE, MA — The following letter was submitted by King Solomon's Lodge member and Highland Avenue resident Jason Mackey.

Dear neighbors,

As you may have heard, the former home of the First Universalist Church and current home of King Solomon’s Lodge A.F. & A.M. at 125 Highland Avenue was recently sold to make way for desperately needed affordable housing. This is all well and good, but on Monday, March 28th, the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (SHPC) will vote on establishing a Local Historic District (LHD) at this address (and only this address); effectively killing the sale and any hopes of affordable housing along with it.

I write to you not only as your neighbor, but as a member of King Solomon’s Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a progressive leader in my Ward, and concerned resident of Somerville.
King Solomon’s Lodge A.F. & A.M. was founded in 1783 in Charlestown, Massachusetts at what is known today as Warren Tavern. Paul Reve is a founding member, as is Josiah Bartlett, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. In 1899, King Solomon’s Lodge moved to Gilman Square in Somerville, where it remained until 1984 when it relocated to 125 Highland Avenue. In 1989, King Solomon’s Lodge established the Highland Masonic Temple Association (HMTA) to purchase the building and its land from the First Universalist Church. Both King Solomon’s Lodge and the Highland Masonic Temple Association are registered nonprofit organizations.

Over the years, we have done our best to keep up with repairs, but the cost of maintaining the building is beyond our means, which is why we reluctantly decided to list the property for sale in 2019.

In 2020, we entered into an agreement to sell the property to local developer, Tony Barros. We got to know Mr. Barros through the redevelopment of the American Legion’s building across the street at 124 Highland Avenue. It is worth noting that Mr. Barros is one of the few minority developers in Somerville.

The new building Mr. Barros proposes to construct at 125 Highland Avenue is a $20 million investment in exactly what this city needs:
• 40 units of new housing, 8 of which will be affordable units.
• An additional $250,000 per year in estimated property taxes.
• A commitment to purchase materials locally and to provide good paying jobs for residents, minorities, and women.

Establishing a Local Historic District at 125 Highland Avenue will not only prevent any of this from happening but also guarantee nothing will happen to this property for years to come.

I say this with confidence because the Draconian building restrictions placed on us by an LHD will severely limit our ability to access 33-years of accrued equity, and for the developer to fully utilize the property. In this case, that means we won’t be able to demolish the building to make way for a 4-story apartment complex necessary to meet the housing needs of our city.

And let’s talk about the building the SHPC wants to preserve.

• Completed in 1923, the building was designed by Ralph Adams Cram. And as noted by the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission in their initial report dated April 16, 2021, “[Ralph Adams] Cram believed in white, Anglo-Saxon supremacy and held beliefs in the superiority of some religions over others.” As the Diversity Officer for my Ward in Somerville, it would be a dereliction of duty to ignore the fact that the building in question can be seen as a monument to white supremacy and may be offensive to anyone with a sense of decency.

• The building itself, known as the First Universalist Church, is historically and architecturally insignificant. Nothing of note occurred here, and the condition of the building alone does not merit its preservation. Moreover, at their March 9, 2022 meeting, the Massachusetts Historical Commission rejected the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission’s proposed Local Historic District and does not recommend preserving the building whatsoever.

• As noted in a March 16, 2022 letter from the Universalist Unitarian Association, the successor organization to the First Universalist Church, the church building at 125 highland Avenue “does not have any historical significance, nor do we maintain any remaining ties to the parish that formerly owned the building.” Even the Church is not interested in preserving it.
• King Solomon’s Lodge, arguably one of the country’s most historic organizations and current owners of the building, also views the church as having no historic value.

• Furthermore, the structure is in very poor and rapidly deteriorating condition. It will cost tens of millions of dollars to restore the building. And as mentioned, the financial burden of maintaining this building is beyond our means and will financially cripple King Solomon’s Lodge; effectively destroying a 239-year-old institution. An LHD would not result in saving a deteriorating church, but would effectively create a blight on our city as King Solomon’s Lodge will no longer have the means to restore or maintain the building.

• Also, it’s worth noting the building is unused and unwanted by any organization in Somerville. King Solomon’s Lodge no longer regularly meets in this building, none of the churches, community organizations, the Somerville Corporation, nor the city of Somerville itself have expressed any interest in acquiring – or even using – the property.

Put simply, this building at 125 Highland Avenue is not worth preserving. And, for the record, it’s worth remembering that historical preservation is achieved in more ways than just the preservation of physical objects and buildings. Frequently, historical preservation is accomplished through the propagation of intangible connections to our past, such as certain organizations and traditions. For example, various religious congregations, Boy Scout troops and, if we might beg your indulgence, King Solomon’s Lodge. These organizations, and their ability to thrive in the Twenty First Century, connect us to the best parts of our past as vibrantly as any structure or streetscape.

In closing, the SHPC has failed to establish actual historic justification to impose such restrictive zoning at 125 Highland Avenue. And I ask the SHPC to recognize the serious shortcomings of 125 Highland Avenue, and hope they now understand why the building is not worth preserving. Rather conversely, that the same Commission – and greater community of Somerville – should see the value in investing in affordable housing and maintaining an existing relationship with a 239-year-old organization committed to building a stronger more vibrant Somerville.

Jason Mackey

Highland Avenue