“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” might well describe the kerfuffle in Oak Bluffs over the Denniston House. “Another man’s treasure ought to be used to fix it up” might well describe the view of those who think this building, more than a century old and showing its age in every rotting sill, needs to be preserved at any and all cost — to someone else.
The Rev. Oscar K. Denniston opened his church on the first floor of his family home, at the corner of Masonic and Dukes County avenues, a century ago. He named it the Bradley Memorial Church in honor of Susan Bradley, with whom the Reverend Denniston had worked at the same location, then known as the Oakland Mission, to help recent immigrants to the Island.
There was nothing remarkable about the design of the building or the materials that went into its construction. It was utilitarian and designed for practical purposes. A summer passerby might not take any notice of it, but for its dilapidated condition.
The moribund building had been vacant for nearly three decades when in 2007 it became the linchpin of an ambitious development proposal by the since-defunct Island Affordable Housing Fund and the Island Housing Trust to develop a plan for the property that included the creation of commercial and residential condominium space and a multi-use cultural center with a price tag of more than $5.1 million.
The development included a plan to restore the main building and create a multi-use cultural space downstairs that would be operated by an Island nonprofit, along with an office condominium that would be owned by the NAACP. The former Denniston family quarters above were to be converted into two affordable apartments. Backers committed to raise $1.7 million to subsidize the project.
It was a good plan that withered on the vine, undone by opposition from neighbors concerned about density, and a national economy in a tailspin.
Almost eight years later, Matt Viaggio, a builder from Oak Bluffs, owns the property and wants to develop it. Members of the Oak Bluffs Historical Commission (OBHC) want him to preserve the Denniston House. No one has stepped up to offer him a $1.7 million subsidy. Presumably, he is to do it on his own dime.
There is no question that there is history associated with this building. Artifacts from the Bradley Memorial Church are preserved in the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, along with the remarkable story of the Reverend Denniston.
But that is not an argument for saddling the neighborhood with continued blight, or imposing unreasonable building-preservation costs on a private citizen when the town, the Island, and various community groups have had more than ample time to step up to the plate and preserve the building with their own money.
Mr. Viaggio still faces scrutiny by the members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, which will review the project as a development of regional impact (DRI). A sensible person unfamiliar with the unfettered appetite of various MVC commissioners to weigh in on most any project might reasonably wonder what exactly is the regional impact of a building sitting on a side street in the middle of Oak Bluffs.
The DRI checklist now includes demolition of any building over 100 years old. MVC chairman Fred Hancock of Oak Bluffs explained the addition during its last review of the DRI checklist this way: “There was a prevailing feeling on the MVC that too many of our historical buildings were being lost.”
A feeling. No list of dear departed buildings we now miss, just a feeling, which is how the MVC deliberation process generally works.
Oak Bluffs Planning Board chairman Brian Packish said the regulatory process creates a burden on the applicant that hinders developments that could provide housing, jobs, and money for the Oak Bluffs tax base.
There is no question that as Barry Stringfellow described last week (Sept. 17, “Bradley Square gridlocked, again”), this has been a time-consuming process, with no clear end in sight.
The MVC ought to move quickly and leave it to Oak Bluffs town leaders to address the planning and historical issues. The importance of the site and the Reverend Denniston’s place in history should not be forgotten. A plaque or freestanding memorial could serve that purpose.