Historical Commission Backs Warrant Article to Fund Weston Depot Investigation

WESTON — July 29, 2025 — Weston Historical Commission unanimously backs warrant article to release $18,750 for depot investigation. The commission voted at its July 29 meeting to ask the Select Board to place an article on the October 15 special town meeting to release funds that have sat unspent since a 2022 town meeting appropriation of $30,000 for the historic Church Street depot building. Alicia Primer, representing the Friends of the Weston Depot — a nonprofit with pending 501c3 status — told the commission the money is needed to complete a structural engineering report and soil testing before any restoration planning can proceed, noting the Select Board had previously refused to release the funds directly. The commission also found significance for two Derby Lane properties — a 1925 Tudor cottage at 8 Derby Lane designed by architect Clifford Albright, and a 1941 Colonial Revival brick house at 33 Derby Lane — voting to continue the first to a public hearing and approving the second's proposed addition as not detrimental, pending final drawing review. A $75,000 MassDOT Preservation Projects Fund grant for the Central Cemetery Memorial Gateway is advancing, with MHC requiring a new MACRIS form and historic preservation restriction before funds are released.