A Reprise for Clark House? New Party Interested in Historic Structure

Less than a week after informing the public that the "best chance" for saving the 250-year-old Thomas Clark House had failed, Historic District Commission Co-Chair Michael Smith came to the Belmont Board of Selectmen Monday, July 15, to declare that "an active private proposal" was made last week to preserve the circa-1760 structure. 

Smith would not identify the new individual but did tell Belmont Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo that the proposal includes land for the location of the house.

The surprising news comes after a meeting this past Wednesday, July 10, where Smith and Sean McDonnell, president of Boston-based Architectural Heritage Foundation which holds the title to the house, told residents the foundation faced making a $10,000 insurance payment by Sept. 1 to allow the house to remain at its current temporary location, set on blocks, adjacent to the White Field House on Concord Avenue after it was moved from its long-time homestead on Common Street in February 2012.

A year-long negotiation between an unidentified developer and the First Armenian Church located on Concord Avenue which Smith called the "best chance" of succeeding in finding a new home for the house fell through about four weeks ago. 

At the meeting, Smith and McDonnell said that unless a viable plan that relied on a combination of public and private funding as well as finding a permanent location for the pre-Revolutionary building was found by Sept. 1, it would be likely the house would be given to a contractor or a training school such as the North Bennett Street School to be taken apart.

While saying that the news of a last-minute proposal was "wonderful," Paolillo said the long-term future of the house, one of the four oldest in Belmont, "is a funding issue." 

If those issues can be resolved, "having [the Clark House] as a town museum and run by the Belmont Historical Society is a great idea," said Paolillo who noted that a location such as the town Common at the intersection of Common Street and Concord Avenue would be an ideal place for such a project.