The Andover That Never Was
Over the years, many plans and
designs have been proposed to change Andover’s
downtown Main Street. While presented with the best
of intentions, many of these plans would have
dramatically changed the personality of the town.
Today, careful planning, community involvement, and
consideration for the history of the town and its
structures are all taken into consideration before
major alterations occur.
The plans that never came to
pass are fascinating to examine in retrospect. What
were the issues facing the town when these changes
were proposed? Consider how the town may have
changed had these plans come to be. Would the
town have changed for the better? Or would the
changes have been for the worse?
Urban Renewal
When a town grows gradually
over a period of centuries, many aspects of that town
– some of which were essential in the past – become
dated and burdensome with time. Increases
in population, changes in industry, and the
introduction of the automobile to everyday life have
meant that the old must give way to the new. In the
past, and even today, additions are built, and
buildings are moved and sometimes leveled. Change to entire streets or even
neighborhoods is not new, and many times the effect
is beneficial to all. However, changes have often
occurred without regard to long time residents of an
area or for the historic context of a community.
The redevelopment of Boston’s West End in the 1950s
and 60s famously displaced an entire community in
favor of the more affluent, destroying community
ties and displacing families.
Andover's 1950s Urban Renewal
In the mid-20th century the
waning of downtown business districts was a problem
many towns and cities faced as the shopping mall
began to appear in the peripheries of many
communities, draining business away from core
businesses in the town centers. A wave of urban
renewal projects sprang up across the country in the
late 1950s, spurred on by the sudden availability of
federal funds to renew America’s downtown and urban
districts.A Whole New
Downtown, 1958-1962
While Andover had less concern
over a waning downtown than most cities, the area
did show signs of aging. Buildings had reached
the end of their useful lifespans. Several
significant buildings along Main Street had been
constructed as much as a century earlier. Many
of these shops and businesses had been built as
private homes and then added on to, expanded, and
modified to accommodate commercial tenants. By
mid-century, even the Musgrove and Barnard buildings
– considered the cutting edge of modern architecture
and prime commercial space when built at the turn of
the century – were looked at with a critical eye.
In 1958, the town voted to submit an application for
federal funds to undertake a massive renewal and
renovation project. The final plan, formalized in
1962, would have demolished much of downtown
Andover. All buildings along the east side of Main
Street from Elm Square to Chestnut Street would have
been leveled, as would all but the first and last
buildings on the west side.
 The Town offices would
have been relocated to Elm Square, occupying the
space then held by the Punchard-Barnard House on
High Street (now home to Enterprise Bank). The
sidewalk along Main Street would have been enlarged
and the new faux-colonial buildings on the east side
of the street pushed far back from the road,
creating a “town common” effect facing a large paved
plaza. Bartlett Street would have been cut off at
Chestnut Street, and the space behind Main Street
from Chestnut to Elm Street would have become a
large parking lot to accommodate the anticipated
throngs of patrons to a new and vibrant commercial
center.
In retrospect, the town is fortunate that this
massive plan was defeated. The effort to create a
stereotypical New England “village green” was
considered more desirable than the colorful
diversity and unique character that Andover had
developed over 300 years. Despite the description
of downtown as “blighted” (a necessary designation
to receive federal funds), residents decided they
preferred the true downtown to an idealized
construct.
NEXT: Women at Work in the
Early 1900s |
