New Bedford goes green(print)

by Steven Froias

The Waterfront Area Historic League (WHALE) has been preserving New Bedford landmarks for decades.

WHALE accomplishes this through the restoration and reuse of historic structures for the economic and community development of New Bedford, which provides commercial development and affordable housing to low-and moderate-income individuals and families, promotes arts and culture, and educates on the importance of the historic and architectural culture of New Bedford’s diverse people.

Soon, they will be employing a brandnew, innovative tool to help them further their mission. In partnership with the Trust for Public Lands (TPL), WHALE is creating a Greenprint of New Bedford.

A Greenprint is a map of places that matter to a community, and creating one starts with community input and leads to state-of-the-art computer models and maps developed using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The interactive maps identify key historic and cultural assets for protection based on the observations, recollections, and local knowledge of the city’s residents.

The Greenprint will give New Bedford a unique opportunity to create a Cultural Conservation Index identifying noteworthy cultural assets such as historic buildings and park/open space preservation opportunities, and will catalog significant community identified landmarks across the city.

The project will begin the fall with a survey to New Bedford residents, as well as rigorous community outreach and conversation. It is anticipated that the Greenprint and Index will be completed by the end of 2023.

The WHALE Cultural Conservation Index is the second Greenmapping project chosen for funding by the 1772 Foundation. Its own mission is to ensure the safe passage of our historic assets to future generations. The Historic Macon Foundation in Macon, Georgia and TPL recently completed a “Saving Places Index,” which connects MaconBibb County, GA residents to wonderful places to live, work, and play in their own backyard.

The Greenprint will give New Bedford a unique opportunity to create a Cultural Conservation Index identifying noteworthy cultural assets such as historic buildings and park/open space preservation opportunities.

The Hillman Street Firehouse

An example of a project that meets that criteria is Hillman Street Firehouse on County Street, New Bedford. WHALE announced on April 1 that it has received a $1.05 million grant from the City of New Bedford’s Housing Expansion Initiative.

In total, five affordable housing development projects were awarded a total of $11.2 million from federal funds received by the City under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program administered by the City’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

WHALE is creating eight affordable housing units at the historic Hillman Firehouse on County Street.

Originally constructed in 1892-93 as a neighborhood fire station and, later, the City’s Civil Defense Headquarters, the once beautiful brick and granite exterior, punctuated with terra cotta accents, was slated for demolition until WHALE and the City stepped in to rescue it.

A historic landmark, the Hillman Firehouse once contributed to the fabric of a vibrant neighborhood but had become abandoned and derelict. Restored to its original beauty, the building will provide affordable housing, bringing new life and a sense of pride to the community.

In total, the Hillman Firehouse is a $3 million dollar restoration project that is consistent with WHALE’s overarching goal to use historic restoration as a tool to stabilize neighborhoods and develop affordable housing, among other goals.

Throughout the city

The Hillman Street Firehouse joins other WHALE projects throughout the City of New Bedford which together constitute a powerful form of transformative preservation.

In the North End, along Acushnet Avenue, WHALE is involved with the restoration of not one but two former theaters. Both are historic structures and the adaptive reuse of each will usher in a new era of opportunity on The Ave, as the commercial corridor is affectionately called.

The former Strand Theater, along with Island Park at its side, is now the Cape Verdean Cultural Center and inches forward every month toward a long-awaited total renovation.

Further down the street, the massive Capitol Theater project will be a creative incubator space managed by the Community Economic Development Center, and will also have new retail space and affordable housing.

Meanwhile, downtown, WHALE is approaching the finish line on another massive project: the Steeple Playhouse. This project finds WHALE actually creating a new theater in New Bedford, from a historic church structure: the First Baptist Church where Robert’s Rules of Order were first introduced.

The restoration of the First Baptist Church will provide an elegant venue for a collaborative community theater while also retaining a home for the congregation. The project is a national model in the effort to save a sacred space through innovative reuse. WHALE believes this is the best chance to restore a National Treasure while making it accessible to the public.

While the new Greenprint project will formalize and take to a new level the demarcation of critical community assets in New Bedford, with invaluable input from residents, WHALE is already embedded in neighborhoods throughout the city.

But now, it’s going green!