Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property
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Click here for Summer 2002 Update
| Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Pumping Stations | Allston-Brighton |
| • Extraordinarily intact
late-19th c. water supply system • Masterpiece of urban planning, architecture, engineering, and landscape design • One of Historic Massachusetts' ten most endangered historic properties • MWRA has begun long process of deacquisition • Historic Massachusetts and Boston Preservation Alliance held workshop in June 1999 to explore property disposition alternatives |
|
| Name: Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Pumping Stations | Bldg SqFt: High Service: 34,600 Low Service: 18,100 |
Lot SqFt: 345,780 | ||
| Address: 2400-2450 Beacon Street | Ward: 21 | Parcel: 2439 | ||
| Neighborhood: Allston-Brighton | Zoning: Parkland Open Space Subdistrict (OS-P) | |||
| Year Built: 1866-1901 | Use: Emergency pumping (owner to vacate by 2001) | |||
| Style: Richardsonian Romanesque/ Classical Revival | Condition: Fair | |||
| Architect(s): Arthur Vinal (High Service); Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge (Low Service) | Owner: | Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Boston, MA 02146 2380 Beacon Street |
||
| Historic Certification: National Register listed; Boston Landmark (including reservoir); National Historic Engineering Landmark | ||||
| FY99 Building Assessment: N/A FY02 Building Assessment: N/A |
FY99 Tax: N/A FY02 Tax: N/A |
|||
| FY99 Land Assessment: $2,693,500 FY02 Land Assessment: $3,447,400 |
Tax Status: Exempt | |||
Preservation Strategy:
Support BLC efforts to have MWRA undertake $2.5 million in repairs. Encourage and support the joint BPA & HMI effort to develop a workable development scheme.
Significance:
The buildings, structures, machinery, basin, and setting of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir create a masterpiece of nineteenth century urban planning, engineering, architecture, and landscape design. Completed in 1870, the reservoir and gatehouses provided an important holding and distribution center for clean water coming into Boston from the Sudbury River Watershed. The Metropolitan Water Board then created the city’s first large-scale pastoral park around the reservoir, laying out a grand carriage drive and an ample greenbelt. As a further manifestation of civic pride, the Water Board built two magnificent high-style pumping stations along Beacon Street: the Richardsonian Romanesque-style High Service Station, completed in 1888, and the Beaux Arts-style Low Service Station, completed in 1901. The Metropolitan District Commission, the successor to the Water Board, began to curtail use of Chestnut Hill in 1946 after opening the Quabbin Reservoir; the Metropolitan Water Resources Authority ended regular service altogether in the 1970s. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated an original steam pumping engine in the High Service Station as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1973.
Preservation Challenges:
MWRA currently maintains the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Pumping Stations as a back-up system for fire emergencies. MWRA intends to build a new vault on-site to house a modern back-up pump system and will abandon the historic pumping stations completely in 2001. The property also houses an MWRA maintenance dispatch facility, which will soon relocate to Chelsea. MWRA has begun the long process of exiting itself from the pumping stations, which involves transfer of the properties to the Dept. of Capital Asset Management for final disposition. MWRA has no long-term plan for preservation of the property and deferred maintenance problems have become apparent. BPA & HMI have entered into a contract with the owner to facilitate the disposition of the Waterworks in such a way that the buildings and landscape are preserved when the MWRA vacates the property and a qualified development entity can adaptively reuse the site. Other challenges remain concerning the rare steam pumping engine in the High Service building.
Neighborhood Context:
The Chestnut Hill neighborhood, which spans the borders of Brighton, Brookline, and Newton, is one of the metropolitan area's most affluent residential neighborhoods. Boston College, which acquired one of the two original reservoir basins in the 1950s and infilled it for construction of its stadium, abuts the reservoir property on the west. The buildings and open space that make up the reservoir are an integral and beloved part of the neighborhood.
Other Sources of Information:
National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Magazine, 5/99; Water Supply System of Metropolitan Boston National Register nomination, 1989; BLC Landmark Study Report for Chestnut Hill Reservoir and Pump Stations, 1989
Entry Completed: 06/01/1999
In 2000 the Massachusetts legislature authorized the disposition of the Waterworks and required the retention of preservation and conservation easements. In order to make the future redevelopment of the property feasible, the Boston Preservation Alliance and Historic Massachusetts Incorporated have proposed a zoning change to allow for the construction of a multi-story mixed use building in the pipeyard. The Society of Architectural Historians, the Boston Landmarks Commission, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation support the proposed change. Some community members concerned with preserving open space, however, are standing in opposition. The Zoning Board of Appeals will vote on the change in September. The MWRA expects to convey the property this fall to the Division of Capital Asset Management, which will then issue a Request for Proposals. This summer the MWRA completed $1.2 million of repairs to the High Service Pumping Station's exterior.Update Entry Completed: 08/09/2002
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