WINDHAM – Recent razings spur the Windham Historical Society to

find ways to prevent more losses.

WINDHAM – Two historic homes in Windham have been torn down in the last month, upsetting members of the Windham Historical Society who are seeking ways to preserve – and at least document – Windham’s history.

The first home, located near the rotary, was torn down in August by Hancock Lumber. A second property, a historic farmhouse with attached barn at 672 Gray Road, was partially dismantled last Tuesday. The home portion, which dates to the 1800s, was leveled, leaving only the barn, which was built in 1923.

The loss of the historic homes has the society scrambling for ways to prevent further undocumented losses. The society members are hoping property owners will first contact them prior to demolition or sale so some form of documentation can take place. They are also hoping to bring back the town’s historic preservation commission to formalize the notification process, and are close to purchasing extra land in Windham to which historic structures could be moved.

“The immediate goal is not to have this happen again. We’d like people to contact us first so we can come in, take pictures, do floor plans, record architectural features and maybe salvage things prior to demolition,” said society co-President Linda Griffin.

In last week’s demolition, the homeowner, Stanley Hall, who owns much of the surrounding acreage, failed to secure a demolition permit, although Code Enforcement Officer Tom Lister said Hall applied for one after the demolition once the town notified him he needed a permit. Hall said he took down the house because he doesn’t use the home, and because the tax valuation will decrease now that only the barn remains.

“We use the barn, didn’t need anything else,” said Hall, a farmer who owns much of the property in the rotary area.

Hancock Lumber, in tearing down their historic home in August, said the home had many structural issues and that they weren’t aware that the historical society was interested in the house.

“I think it’s more of an awareness issue. Now that we know they would have wanted to tour it, by all means, we would have allowed them access,” said Hancock’s communication director Erin Plummer. “But in the midst of our day-to-day business, we never would have thought about that being an issue.”

Noting the decrepit exterior condition of the circa 1900 property, society member David Tanguay nevertheless said there may have been items of historic value on the interior, possibly inside the walls or hidden under wallpaper. “Everyone around says it was in poor shape, but we never had the opportunity to look,” Tanguay said.

The society has already submitted a letter to the code enforcement office in Windham to request that a notification process be established when demolition or building permits are submitted. Lister said the permitting process can only be changed by the Town Council.

“If we could do something logistically, we’d be glad to,” Lister said. “Right now, there is no notification process, either for demolition or construction permits.”

While simple notification is seen as an immediate key to preventing further historic loss, a future goal of the society is the reformation of a historic preservation commission, disbanded in the mid-1990s. This would formalize the notification process by adding a step in the permitting process requiring notice of the society prior to demolition.

“If they had the historic commission in place and fully staffed, then if someone needed to do something to an older home in town, they’d at least notify the commission, the commission would look at it, and if it was going to be demolished, the commission could be notified so that they could look for unique architectural fixtures and either save that particular element or if it really needed it, save the whole building or move it,” said Tanguay, who served on the original historic commission in the 1990s. (The commission folded in the mid-1990s primarily because it had finished its work documenting all Windham homes over 100 years old, he noted.)

Permanent solution

While it hasn’t been the case lately, sometimes the society is given warning about old homes slated for demolition in Windham. There are plenty of antique artifacts at the society’s headquarters on Windham Center Road to show Windham’s what proper notification can yield, Griffin said.

However, with a small headquarters and no property to speak of, the society has been limited in what it can do to permanently protect historic homes or structures in town.

But that may all change with the society’s impending purchase of two and a half acres of open land conveniently located next to its headquarters in Windham Center.

According to Griffin, the society has made an undisclosed offer on the Reeves property located at 458 Gray Road, across from Corsetti’s Market. The property’s acreage abuts the rear portion of the society’s headquarters and would make an ideal spot for relocating important homes and structures, Griffin said.

The property was set for auction in late September, but Griffin said the society moved quickly to put the home and land under contract Friday, Sept. 10.

According to Griffin, the home would be rented to help pay for a mortgage, and the land will be used for long-term plans including potentially a small historic village similar to the one society members recently toured in Windsor.

“They have 11 historic building situated on a small piece of land. We could do the same thing here. It would be unbelievable. We call it our ‘Field of Dreams,'” Griffin said.

Griffin said the society is now conducting a major fundraising effort to generate enough money to make a sizeable down payment. Letters have been sent to the 145 members of the society and non-members are invited to donate as well.

Windham Historical Society members, from left, Linda Griffin, Penny Loura and Caroline Rowe, check out the recently demolished house portion of the historic Legrow home and barn at 672 Gray Road, near the intersection of Gray Road and Falmouth Road in East Windham. The society says Windham has lost two historic buildings in almost as many weeks with no documentation or preservation made of either home. (Staff photo by John Balentine)Ray Monahan of Windham took this photograph of the Legrow home and barn in East Windham in early morning light sometime in the 1980s. While the home and barn date to the early 1900s, the property has been continuously inhabited since the Revolutionary War. Last Tuesday, the house was torn down, but the barn was spared demolition. (Photo courtesy of Ray Monahan)The Windham Historical Society is eyeing a 2.5-acre lot abutting its headquarters in Windham Center as a historic village where old buildings slated for demolition could be brought for safe keeping. (Staff photo by John Balentine)