Newton, Massachusetts Community Preservation Program  >>  Proposals & Projects
 
Newton City Hall
location:
   1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
goals:
   Preserve, restore and rehabilitate key, character-defining historic features and significant historic artifacts held in Newton's 1932 Georgian-style City Hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and the surrounding landscape, designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm.
See also City Archives page for related projects at several sites, including but not limited to City Hall.
total
funding:
  
$446,910 CP funds appropriated  (historic resources)
$386,150 CP funds spent (all unspent balances returned to Community Preservation Fund)

NOTE: Totals above exclude the City-owned Civil War Monument, on the grounds of the private Newton Cemetery.
total
projects:
   6 (listed below in reverse chronological order)
contacts:
   For art & archives:
City Clerk
Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Avenue
Newton Centre, MA 02459
email:   dolson@newtonma.gov
phone:   617.796.1210

For building:
Public Buildings Commissioner
City of Newton
52 Elliot Street
Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464
email:   sgilman@newtonma.gov
phone:   617.796.1600

For landscape:
Commissioner &
Open Space Coordinator
City of Newton Parks & Recreation Dept.
70 Crescent Street
Auburndale, MA 02466
email:   bderubeis@newtonma.gov & cschein@newtonma.gov
phone:   617.796.1500

City Hall Historic Art
goals:
   Restore for display the original 1870s oil portrait of James F. C. Hyde, who served as Newton's first mayor when the town became a  city in 1873.  Other paintings by this artist, Nahum Onthank, are displayed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Harvard University, the Worcester Art Museum, and the New England Historic Geneaological Society.
total
funding:
  
$5,200 CP funds appropriated  (historic resources)
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
16 October 2009
  proposal (long file, may take time to load)
28 September 2009
  Newton Historical Commission letter
16 December 2009
   public hearing presentation
(photos, incl. historic art not included in this proposal)
1 March 2010
   additional estimates requested by the CPC
2 April 2010
   CPC funding recommendation
17 May 2010
   Board order (appropriation)
PROJECT NEWS
 

City Hall Landscape
goals:
   Provide a phased plan for the preservation and rehabilitation of this award-winning landscape, designed and installed in 1931-32 by Henry Vincent Hubbard of the Olmsted Brothers firm to complement the Georgian design of Newton's new City Hall, with ponds fed by Cold Spring Brook.
total
funding:
  
$40,650 CP funds appropriated & spent (historic resources),including $650 for City of Newton legal services
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATION(S)
27 April 2005
  preservation plan: CPC funding recommendation
2 June 2005
  preservation plan: Board order (appropriation)
8 August 2005
  Board order (supplemental appropriation for City of Newton legal services)
2 October 2006
 
implementation, phase 1: proposal
2 October 2006
  implementation, phase 1, proposal supplement: plan
23 January 2007
  implementation, phase 1, proposal supplement:
budget details & phasing
  Board order (funds not yet appropriated to implement plan) 
PROJECT NEWS
September 2006
  final report: recommendations (long files, may load slowly)
intro & chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5 chapters 6-7
September 2006
  final report: plan
   
City Hall War Memorial Auditorium
goals:
   Provide detailed recommendations for the restoration of stonework and masonry, including appropriate mortar, of the exterior stairs leading to the War Memorial Auditorium entrance on the west side of City Hall.

This study also included the municipal Civil War Monument, built of similar materials but located on the grounds of the nearby Newton Cemetery (private).
total
funding:
  
$15,000 CP funds appropriated  (historic resources)
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
15 October 2004
  proposal
15 October 2004
  proposal supplement: plans & elevations
30 March 2005
  CPC funding recommendation
16 May 2005
  Board order (appropriation)
PROJECT NEWS
15 October 2005
  interim report: masonry testing
June 2006
  interim report: masonry treatments
June 2007
  final report: recommendations
(long file, may load slowly)
June 2007
  final report: plans

City Hall Balustrade, Windows & Lighting
goals:
   Restore key, character-defining features of Newton's 1932 Georgian-style City Hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places: balustrade and cupola, wood windows in the Aldermanic Chambers and Memorial Hall; lighting in main public corridors.
total
funding:
  
$391,260 CP funds appropriated  (historic resources)
$330,500 CP funds spent  (unspent balance returned to CP Fund)
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
December 2002
  combined proposal for multiple features of City Hall
(cupola & balustrade, windows, lighting)
January 2003
  eligibility for additional support from the
Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund
January 2003
  proposal supplement: scope of work, costs
February 2003
  proposal supplement: budget detail, design specifications, maintenance
7 April 2003
  CPC funding recommendation
19 May 2003
  Board order (appropriation), windows, $119,400
19 May 2003
  Board order (appropriation), lighting, $96,200
19 May 2003
  Board order (appropriation): cupola & balustrade, $150,660
14 May 2004
  Board order, transferring $25,000 in already appropriated but unspent funds from balustrade to lighting
PROJECT NEWS
2003-04
  original project timelines
   
Civil War Monument
in Newton Cemetery
location:
   791 Walnut Street
Newton Centre, MA 02459-1719
goals:
   Provide detailed recommendations for restorating the stonework and masonry, including appropriate mortar, of the municipal Civil War Monument, sited in Newton Cemetery (private).

This study also included the exterior stairs to the War Memorial Auditorium at City Hall.
total
funding:
  
$15,000 CP funds appropriated  (historic resources)
$13,161 CP funds spent (unspent balance returned to the CP Fund
PROPOSAL REVIEW & APPROPRIATIONS
15 October 2004
  proposal
15 October 2004
  proposal supplement: plans & elevations
30 March 2005
  CPC funding recommendation
16 May 2005
  Board order (appropriation)
PROJECT NEWS
ongoing
  Newton Cemetery, a private garden cemetery founded in 1855
15 October 2005
  interim report: masonry testing
June 2006
  interim report: masonry treatments
June 2007
  final report: recommendations
(long file, may load slowly)
June 2007
  final report: plans

CONTACT:  
Alice E. Ingerson, Ph.D., Community Preservation Program Manager
Newton Planning & Development Department,
City Hall, 1000 Commonwealth Ave., Newton, MA 02459
phone 617.796.1144, email  aingerson@newtonma.gov, TDD / TTY 617.796.1089