More than 100 people "sign" letter to Williams president seeking stay of execution for razing of historic Hoxsey Street house; hearing Tuesday?

The letter below asserts "misrepresentations" by the college.  Among signers are present and former members of the town's historical commission and Historical Museum.  The 42 Hoxsey Street home was the residence of the late Dagmar Bubriski, who was a well-known resident of the town. Ms. Bubriski's daughter writes that the town's Historical Commission has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow (Tuesday, March 13, 2018) in Town Hall at 3 p.m. to consider the matter.

LINK: To college's March 16 reponse.

See: Earlier Post 

​Source: 

Wanda Bubriski email  received Monday, March 12 

​

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: W.A. Bubriski <wbubriski@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:34 PM
Subject: 42 Hoxsey Building - Please Confirm Receipt
To: pmajumde@williams.edu, college-relations@williams.edu, bbarkin@williamstownma.gov

TO: President Protik Majumder:  pmajumde@williams.edu

Chair of Board of Trustees, via Megan Morey, VP for College Relations:  college-relations@williams.edu

William Barkin, Chair, Williamstown Historical Commission:   bbarkin@williamstownma.gov 

CC: Charles Lovett: clovett@williams.edu

Jim Kolesar: jkolesar@williams.edu

(The Following Letter is also attached as a PDF document.  All signatories have "signed" via email exchange.)

Friends of 42 Hoxsey Street, Williamstown, Mass.

March 12, 2018

To the President and Trustees of Williams College, and the Williamstown Historical Commission:

We are shocked, outraged and saddened to hear of the decision of Williams College to tear down the house at 42 Hoxsey Street—a decision representing callous disregard of the town's history. Dating from 1880, it graces the 1889 Map of Williamstown; it is one of the grandest residences still standing in the heart of town.  It is a focal point of the street—a historic district.

Last April 3, when Williams College purchased the property from Wanda Bubriski, whose family had resided on the property since 1954, the College said it intended to use it for construction offices, then faculty housing.  Multiple inaccuracies and misrepresentations characterize the College's description of the condition of the house in the advertisement for its sale. Over $200,000 of improvements were made to the house between 2014 and 2016.  Among the improvements are: asbestos removed; new plumbing for two new bathrooms installed; complete house re-wired and converted to gas; new gas furnace and water heater installed; entire interior painted; new windows on second floor installed; tiger oak flooring fully sanded and stained; leaded glass windows preserved and reconstructed. These enhancements augment the 9-foot ceilings, gracious spatial arrangement, and details like the French doors and Bennington ceramic fireplace surround.   

Williams's advertisement presented a deteriorating construction—an insult to all the tradesmen and women who worked so hard on the house.  Most people who have walked through that fan-lighted front door into the capacious central hall respond with a "WOW"—including your own staff. Distortions and lack of accuracy regarding the condition is reprehensible.

To the Historical Commission: 

The house and barn at 42 Hoxsey Street embody a rare example of unaltered spatial layout, with its balloon-construction visible in the attic and its wrap around porch can be seen on the 1889 Map. The house carries cultural significance as well contributing to the fabric of the community, its history and values. From 1954 to 2011, it was the home of Dagmar Bubriski, a community leader, a columnist, a radio host, and a widow at 37 who raised a family of four while being the loudest cheerleader and staunchest defender of Williamstown historic and cultural preservation. This history deserves to be preserved.  We object to this house being torn down and its history lost.

Sadly, the College's attitude toward historic preservation is nearly non-existent. When it serves the corporate expansion needs of its ever-increasing bureaucracy, it simply plows down historic structures. (Examples include the Opera House, Harper House—and if Williams had had its way decades ago, we would have lost Van Rensselaer House— fortunately, part of it ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

We strongly urge Williams reconsider its decision to tear down and throw away this important historical building.

Respectfully signed,

Family, Friends, Historians, Architects and Admirers of 42 Hoxsey St. Building and 

Legacy of Dagmar Neuburg Bubriski

1.     Wanda Bubriski, MA '82                    

2.     Charles Bonenti, former chair and board member of Williamstown Historical Commission

3.     Elma Sanders, former board member of Williamstown Historical Commission

4.     Susan Schneski, Board of Williamstown Historical Museum, former board member of Williamstown Historical Commission

5.     Sandra Webber, former board member of Williamstown Historical Commission

6.     Andrew Dolkart, Professor of Historic Preservation, Columbia University

7.     William Doughty '55                          

8.     Richard Doughty '80                          

9.     Roger Doughty '84                             

10.  Ron Stegall '60           

11.  Paul Boyer '77

12.  Beverly Willis, FAIA                          

13.  Peter Bubriski                                     

14.  Kevin Bubriski           

15.  Nadine Neuburg Doughty (Dagmar's sister)

16.  Kathleen Neuburg Kingscott              

17.  Dr. Laura McKeon

18.  Mark Bubriski

19.  Jean Bubriski

20.  Dr. Anne Bubriski

21.  Christine Bubriski                               

22.  Katie Bubriski                                    

23.  Ryan Bubriski

24.  Tara Bubriski                                      

25.  Kate Powers

26.  Peter McKenzie

27.  Selasssie McKenzie

28.  Lionel McKenzie

29.  Paul McKenzie

30.  Rachel Park

31.  Jessica Park

32.  Prof. Katherine Park

33.  Paul Park                                            

34.  Deborah Brothers                               

35.  Andrew Failes

36.  Guy Hedreen                                      

37.  Patrick Quinn                                     

Continued, Family, Friends, Historians, Architects and Admirers of 42 Hoxsey St. Building and 

Legacy of Dagmar Neuburg Bubriski

38.  Juliet Flynt                                         

39.  Elizabeth Winthrop

40.  Karen Gundersheimer                        

41.  Werner Gundersheimer

42.  Sally Stocking

43.  Jennifer Norton Jayko

44.  Karen England

45.  Wavalene "Jinx" Tong                        

46.  Deborah Burns                                   

47.  Adrianna H. Millenaar Brown            

48.  Dr. Elizabeth Van Cleve, Director, Oral History of American Music, Yale University           

49.  Dr. Suzanne Noruschat

50.  Kevin Flicker 

51.  Norma Petersen                                  

52.  Dr. Carl Petersen                                            

53.  Dr. Erica Petersen                                          

54.  Karen A. Patterson                             

55.  Susan Dahill                           

56.  Mary O'Meara            

57.  Meg Kent

58.  Jim Youngerman                     

59.  Jane Goodrich

60.  Margaret Smithglass                

61.  Greg Carpenter

62.  Linda Cummings                     

63.  Daniel Osman

64.  Leslie Rigby                            

65.  Dr. Andrew Clark                               

66.  Mara Cherkasky, Historian & Co-Founder, Prologue DC.com                       

67.  Savannah Randall                   

68.  Kelly Ann Hill                        

69.  Dr. Nancy Smith                                

70.  Prof. Shirley McCarthy, MD               

71.  Luz Judith Shosie                   

72.  Linda Ingram                                      

73.  Paula Wells                             

74.  Marjorie Chamberlain             

75.  Abbie Hatton                         

76.  Andrea Nuciforo                    

77.  Elizabeth Smith

78.  Sam Smith

79.  Bruce Pierce                           

80.  Suzette Pierce

81.  Dr. Cynthia Hammond, Co-Director, Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, and Prof. of Art History, Concordia University, Montreal

Continued, Family, Friends, Historians, Architects and Admirers of 42 Hoxsey St. Building and 

Legacy of Dagmar Neuburg Bubriski

82.  Mike Miller, Creator & Curator, Williamstown History Email Group

83.  Philip Wagner, AIA

84.  Anneliese Vollweiler

85.  Heidi Gifford

86.  Luanne Spooner                     

87.  Lynne Mersfelder-Lewis

88.  Michael Heslip

89.  Donald Lewis                         

90.  Liz Thompson                        

91.  Susan T. Smith           

92.  Tela Zasloff                            

93.  Pete Richardson                     

94.  Sean Joyce                              

95.  Betsy Burris                

96.  Patricia Siskind                                               

97.  Jean Donati

98.  Nina Donati

99.  Donald Sanders

100. Diane Favro, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, Samuel H. Kress Professor, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery, Washington, DC

101. Sylvia Smith, FAIA, Senior Partner, FXCollaborative Architects