From Mayor Fuller’s latest newsletter:
Preservation Massachusetts just awarded Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen and the Newton Cultural Alliance the Paul & Niki Tsongas Award for their commitment to historic preservation in restoring the Nathaniel Allen House at 35 Webster Street in West Newton. Over the past eight years, the group has painstakingly brought the building back to life for use as an Arts & Cultural Center with funding help from Newton’s Community Preservation Act. Thank you NCA for opening the doors to the new center for the hosts of this year’s virtual 47th Annual Mayor’s Community Breakfast. Register to Zoom into the community gathering on Wednesday, May 26 here.
A well deserved honor. Adrienne Hartzell has been a tireless advocate for the Allen House and for the Newton Cultural Alliance. This is also an example of how meaningful the Community Preservation Act (CPA) has been and continues to be for Newton. We have been able to fund important historic preservation projects, as well as preserve open space, improve parks and build more affordable housing. It was very smart the city adopted the CPA (though by a narrow) margin back in 2001.
Thanks, Alison.
Between 2014 and 2018, the NCA was awarded $2.9 million in CPA funds for preservation of the historic Nathaniel Topliff Allen Homestead, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. These funds were used to stabilize the building itself, restore the historic classroom in the barn, build ADA accessible walkways, ramps, and an elevator, preserve the original wood frame of the barn, restore the stone walls and foundation for the chimney in the basement, and preserve unique historic features like the main stairway and bowling alley. In addition, CPA funds were used to install a state-of-the-art geothermal HVAC system that includes 14 geothermal wells, which will save energy and eliminate the need for fossil fuels, as well as maintain the historic character of the building and grounds.
For its efforts to preserve the historic Allen House and convert it into a new home for arts and culture in Newton, Preservation Massachusetts recently awarded NCA the Paul & Niki Tsongas Award. The NCA has also been nominated for a People’s Preservation Choice Award. Anyone can vote for the Allen Center for this award at https://www.preservationmass.org/peoples-preservation-choice.
The building and grounds, located at 35 Webster Street in West Newton, have been renamed the Nathaniel Allen Center for Arts and Culture. The Allen Center will be the home for a broad range of innovative arts exploration and education across disciplines: including theatre performances in a unique performance hall built in the converted barn; concerts and recitals offered in several well-appointed, flexible spaces available within the Center and on the grounds; art exhibits in and around the historic property, including parlors, the hall, the gallery and outdoors on the lawn; educational and after school programs; lectures, classes and workshops; and private events in the Center’s indoor and outdoor facilities.
The Allen Center is not yet open to the public because of COVID restrictions, but here are some links to “before” and “after” photos of the Allen Center project. Tira Khan took the “before” photos and I took the “after” photos.
Thanks for posting. This got me curious so I read about the history of the house. It housed the West Newton English and Classical School which was the first school to offer pure kindergarten and gym as a part of the curriculum. It counts as an alum Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first black woman to become a doctor of medicine in the United States. Historic indeed!
Thanks, Bruce Wang. Nathaniel Allen’s school for teachers, which is now Framingham State University, was located on the site of the First Unitarian Society of Newton (FUSN) on Washington Street across from the police station. That building then was repurposed as the Newton English and Classical School. Nathaniel Allen was an educational pioneer, an ardent abolitionist, and a Unitarian. Allen, Horace Mann, and Cyrus Peirce (for whom the Peirce School is named) were founders of FUSN, which first met in the Seth Davis Tavern at the corner of Washington and Watertown streets. FUSN built its first church building in 1860 where the West Newton Cinema is now located. In 1906, FUSN moved into the English Gothic church where it is now located.
Allen not only started the first kindergarten, but also taught science, geology, biology, and other curricula which are common today but were revolutionary back in the 19th Century. Allen also believed in physical education long before that was a thing, which included activities in the gym, bowling alley, and a pond where he taught swimming. The Allen School as it came to be called was co-ed, multiracial, and included international students from all over the world, including Japan. International students lived in a dormitory that connected the Allen House and Barn, which has been renovated and is now the main lobby of the Allen Center. After he died in 1903, his daughters operated a girls’ school in the barn, until the 1940s.
Most of Allen’s papers are now in storage with the Massachusetts Historic Commission. The NCA is fortunate to have some portraits and furniture from Allen’s time, as well as some of the original bowling balls and pins used in the alley upstairs. Just as importantly, the homestead, which had been neglected for many years and was literally falling apart, has been preserved and will be an arts and cultural resource for many, many years to come.
This is one of the most impressive and beautifully restored historical treasures in the city and indeed the region. I can say that even though I have yet to see the fully restored complex because what I did see a when the restoration was still underway a year or so back was impressive enough. And nobody can quibble with the historic significance of Nathaniel Webster and so many of his gifted students.
@Bob Burke: Check out the links to the “before” and “after” photos in my previous comment.
Ted,
Thank you for your advocacy and attention on this worthy project. We as a community saved this property from the brink, thanks to the efforts of many including yourself.
But I say with respect in my heart as I look at your photos (especially in comparison to Tira Khan’s): don’t quit your day job.
@Ted. Thanks for the heads up and for advocating for this great restoration.
I just voted and am excited that the Allen House is currently in 1st place. Please use this link to vote, and help us be the People’s Choice!
https://www.preservationmass.org/peoples-preservation-choice
@NativeNewtonian. Thanks for the heads up. I cast my ballot for the Allen House, but to be honest I could have given it to just about all of the other nominees. It’s just encouraging to know there’s still a lot of the good old stuff left in this historic state.