Historic courthouse talk at HSI meeting

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer

May 07, 2008 05:45 am

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SALEM — Historic Salem Inc., a local preservation watchdog, will keep the focus on courthouse row at its annual meeting this month.

Dr. Martha McNamara of Wellesley College will deliver the keynote address, "Shaping Civic Space: Massachusetts Courthouses and County Seats, 1770-1850," during the 7 p.m. meeting on May 20 at the National Park Service Visitor Center.

McNamara's illustrated lecture will show how the construction of court buildings, like those on Federal Street, affected public space in Massachusetts county seats.

She is director of the New England Arts and Architecture Program at Wellesley College. She also is the author of "From Tavern to Courthouse: Architecture and Ritual in American Law, 1658-1860."

HSI, a private preservation group, has been heavily involved in plans to build a $106 million state courthouse on Federal Street. It urged the state to plan for the reuse of current historic court buildings, rather than "mothballing" them once they become vacant. It also lobbied to save three old houses on Federal Street, which are now slated for demolition.

Construction on the new courthouse, which will be built at the corner of North and Federal streets, is scheduled to begin later this year.

HSI will give out its annual preservation awards at the meeting, recognizing work done on private residences, commercial buildings, and property owned by public and nonprofit institutions.

The meeting is free and open to the public.