Source: amherstma.gov
The Town of Amherst has initiated the Section 106 historic preservation review process for the proposed expansion of Jones Library.
§ 106 Monument protection assessment
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) requires federal agencies to review the impacts on historic buildings of projects they undertake, support, fund, permit, license, or approve across the country. When a federal project or a federally supported project has the potential to adversely affect historic buildings, a Section 106 review occurs. Section 106 gives the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), advisory parties, and the public an opportunity to comment on these matters before a final decision is made. The four-step process includes consultations to explore measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse impacts to the historic building, and the development of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) outlining the agreed-upon resolution measures to remedy those adverse impacts.
Historic buildings are districts, buildings, structures, objects, and sites listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (National Register). The Jones Library is listed on the National Register as a contributing building in the Amherst Central Business District, added to the list in 1991.
The Jones Library construction project requires Section 106 review because it receives a Challenge Infrastructure and Capacity Building grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an Economic Development Initiative grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and a hazardous waste disposal permit from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). Over the past 10 years or so, several review processes have occurred for the Jones Library rehabilitation related to federal funding from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and an application for the Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit. However, this process specifically relates to the federal Section 106 review.
The Town of Amherst, acting through the Office of the Town Manager as the responsible entity designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is itself the lead federal agency, will conduct an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as a review under related statutes, including Section 106. The Town has assumed responsibility for environmental reviews, decision-making, and actions that would otherwise be the responsibility of HUD under NEPA and other statutory provisions furthering the purposes of NEPA as set forth in §58.5, including the National Historic Preservation Act, as set forth in 24 CFR §58.4.
Proposed project
The project calls for the rehabilitation of the Jones Library for continued use as a public library. The project includes the rehabilitation of the original 1928 Jones Library building, the demolition of the 1993 three-story rear addition, and the construction of a new three-story rear addition. The original building will house a climate-controlled special collections storage room, the special collections exhibit room, the city’s Civil War plaques, part of the enlarged children’s room, three adult reading rooms, part of the adult fiction collection, the entire enlarged ESL department, an accessible staff lounge, and the Goodwin Conference Room, which will now be open to the public. The addition will house an accessible Amherst Meeting Room, an enlarged Woodbury Meeting Room/Kitchenette, gender-neutral restrooms, the Burnett Art Gallery, an enlarged Special Collections Reading Room, the other half of an enlarged Children’s Room including a Children’s Activity Room, a meeting room where visitors can enjoy refreshments, the AV Collection, a Sensory Room, the other half of the adult fiction collection, the adult nonfiction collection, public internet terminals, the Reference Department, three quiet study rooms, and the new Teen Room with a Makerspace. The project will modernize the building to meet current library standards and enhance the library’s role as a community and educational center. It will address costly but important safety and accessibility concerns, improve and expand children’s and special collections facilities, create dedicated spaces for ESL and youth, and significantly improve the building’s energy efficiency by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, resulting in a Net-Zero Ready building, and by purchasing external renewable energy, the new building will be Net-Zero.
Invitation to participate as an advisory party
The City has designated the following parties to be invited to participate as advisory parties in the Section 106 process:
- Advisory Board for Monument Preservation
- Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) / Massachusetts Historical Commission as responsible SHPO
- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Stockbridge-Munsee and Nipmuc are tribal organizations that will be consulted regarding the proposed project.
- Amherst Historical Commission (AHC) as appropriate representative of the local government
- Amherst Historical Society as owner of an adjacent historic property affected by the project
- Amherst Historic Preservation Coalition, which has requested advisory party status
- Other organizations that have expressed interest in the project.
- Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce
- Amherst Business Improvement District
- Amherst Cinema
- Amherst College Community Involvement
- Amherst Historic Preservation Coalition
- Amherst Historical Society and Museum
- Ancestral bridges
- Burnett Art Gallery
- Amherst Downtown Foundation
- Downtown Amherst Historic District Committee
- Emily Dickinson Museum
- Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
- Friends of the Jones Library System
- Frost Library, Amherst College
- Public Relations at Hampshire College
- Hampshire College Library
- Jones Library
- Literacy project
- Department of Architecture, University of Mass Amherst
- UMass Amherst Library System
- UMass Amherst University Relations
- Yiddish Book Center
These organizations have received an invitation letter via email and mail and have 30 days from receipt of the letter to notify the City whether they wish to participate as an advisory party in the Section 106 process.
Information about the proposed project and the Section 106 process, as well as previous local and state reviews, can be found on the Town’s website at www.amherstma.gov/3804/Section-106-Historic-Preservation-Review.
