Neighbors - 1. Historical Commission hearing On Thursday evening 6 March, the Cambridge Historical Commission voted unanimously – and again with enthusiasm – to complete their granting a certificate of appropriateness for the developer’s fourth proposal, which he had resubmitted with more detail for this hearing (see below for link to these updated drawings). The exact language of the certificate will require that the developer work with the Historical Commission staff to resolve certain details, including the configurations of replacement windows at the existing building, the color of the roof cap at the existing brick wall of the 2-story portion, cleaning and pointing of existing exterior brick walls, and the design of metal panels that infill the existing garage door at the east end of the building. Signage on the building will remain subject to a separate application by the developer. About a dozen neighbors spoke during the hearing to draw the Commission’s -- and the developers’ — attention to ways to improve the design. As I said last month, we have accomplished a lot in a short time. The developers now embrace the preservation and restoration of the entire historic building envelope. The proposed new construction is set back significantly from street and railroad and is not a massive wall of uniform height as originally proposed. The height of the new construction has been reduced at least in part of the proposed scheme. And, the number of units has been reduced from 54 to 48. Compare and contrast for yourselves the developers’ original design to the design approved by the Historical Commission Thursday evening! See the attached images below, and also these links: Original 1st Submission to the Historical Commission (June 19, 2013): http://www2.cambridgema.gov/Historic/15-33Richdale_plans.pdf Submission which has been awarded a Certificate of Appropriateness (February 25, 2014): http://www2.cambridgema.gov/Historic/Case3188_revised_plans.pdf Our only remaining work with the Cambridge Historical Commission is to support, as we are able, the landmark designation study for the building, which we understand will continue until the autumn or December of 2014, at which time the Commission will vote whether or not to recommend that the City Council landmark the building, which would permanently bring the building under the jurisdiction of the Historic Commission. Steve Perry 24 Cambridge Terrace #1