Make Nockum Hill Historic Landmark
The Barrington Preservation Society sees this option as the most feasible of several for protecting Nockum Hill from development; it's hosting a tour of the area on Wednesday, Oct. 3.
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The Barrington Preservation Society wants to protect the historic Nockum Hill area of Barrington from too much development by making it a National Historic Landmark Site.
To launch this venture, the preservation society proposes that a “stakeholders workshop” be held with the Town of Barrington “within 60 days to discuss permanent recognition, preservation and protection of Nockum Hill,” according to the preservation society.
The preservation society also is holding a tour of Nockum Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 4 pm to pinpoint the historic area. It will start at the “John Myles monument where George Street takes a sharp left,” said Burton Edwards, a historian with the preservation society.
Charlotte Sornberger, a preservation society member perhaps best known for her protection of the Diamondback terrapins that live in Hundred Acre Cove, will lead the tour, Edwards said.
Making Nockum Hill a “landmark site” appears to be the most feasible option for protecting the area from development, the society believes. But the BPS also throws out the possibility of creating a Nockum Hill State Park or a Nockum Hill National Park.
Making the area a “landmark site,” however, would not require the society to purchase any of the land, according to the proposal.
The size of the “landmark site” also has not yet been determined, according to the BPS proposal.
“But the site of the destroyed Nockum Hill Meeting House, which appears to be directly across from the proposed development or on the parcel of the proposed development, would be the natural central point of such a site,” according to the BPS proposal.
National Historic Landmarks are defined as “Buildings, Sites, Districts, Structures and Objects that have been designated by the Secretary of the Interior of national significance in American history or culture,” according to the preservation society proposal.
The John Myles monolith recognizes the founding of the First Baptist Church in Massachusetts in 1663 on land that was then Sowams tribal territory, now part of Barrington.
“Of the first meeting house site, Nockum Hill, the granite monolith with its memorial plaque, is all that is left to honor Rev. John Myles, theologian, pioneer and advocate of religious toleration,” according to the BPS proposal.
To designate a potential “landmarks site” with multiple owners … the majority of owners must approve the potential NHL Site proposal,” according to the BPS proposal.
“This is important as major portions of Nockum Hill are owned by: the Town of Barrington, the Barrington Cemetery Commission, the Barrington Land Conservation Trust, The Audubon Society of Rhode Island, 4-Town Farm, and eleven other private owners,” the BPS proposal says. Thus, the need for airing the proposal at a stakeholders' meeting.
Gary Morse
12:43 pm on Monday, October 1, 2012
Thank you Preservation Society for promoting this initiative.
When this development was being debated before the Planning Board several months back, I asked if they had done a cost / benefit analysis to see whether it would be less expensive to purchase the land, or have it developed it under the current high density, low cost affordable ordinances (translation - minimal property tax revenue to support the increased costs to the town).
As far as I know, there was no cost / benefit analysis completed.
My point back then was to show that this valuable property to town residents may actually cost less to preserve when examined over the long term. This is a sensitive ecological area that would be harmed by high density development.
Thus if this actually costs less for the town to protect, the state itself recognizes that sensitive environmental areas should be protected.
Barrington needs to work harder at common sense approaches to the Comprehensive Community Plan.
Thank you for this initiative.