Plans Move Forward on Warren District and Valentine Estate

The Ashland Board of Selectmen (BOS) at its January 2 meeting approved, based on recommendation from Town Manager Michael Herbert, to authorize $112,000 from the newly formed Warren District account to hire a project manager for two years.
The project manager will work to keep the Warren property and the Valentine estate buildings from falling into disrepair and facilitate a public feedback process to determine use for the space.
The Warren District was first envisioned and approved in 2017, and “has the potential to be one of Ashland’s real gems when it is finished,” Herbert said in a recent online post.
“Building on the work of groups of volunteers, like the Conservation Commission and the Land Stewardship Committee, we have an opportunity to preserve and restore the last vestige of Ashland’s agricultural history,” Herbert explained online. “This additionally gives us an opportunity to move forward with defining and executing a plan for the newly acquired Valentine Estate. A great start to 2019.”
The Warren District consists of the properties listed below. Herbert outlines each property and proposed uses in his online blog on the town website (https://bit.ly/2AEo3NZ).
Hall House, 433 Chestnut St.—Sell the residence to a contractor to restore and place on the National Register: Obtain restriction to maintain historical status (similar situation to the Clayes House in Framingham).
Warren Barn—Already considered part of the historic vista, a function center, potential use could leverage partnership with FSU.
22 Eliot St.—Henry Warren Museum and Educational Center, a museum dedicated to the Warren District ecosystem and the inventions and life of Henry Warren; an educational center dedicated to local history, civics, engineering and ecology, in partnership with Framingham State University (FSU), which owns the nearby Warren Conference Center and Inn.
Herbert has broken the work of the project manager into three phases:
1. Have a contractor restore 433 Chestnut St. (Hall House) to historical standards such that it can be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and keeping it as a private residence.
2. Restore the Warren Barn so that it can be used as a function hall and rental facility, leveraging the Warren Conference Center’s existing facilities and FSU’s new hospitality program.
3. Convert 22 Eliot St. into a Henry Warren Museum and Educational Center dedicated to the work of Henry Warren and also serving as home base for FSU and local ecological programs.
Though there are many ideas for the Valentine property, almost an eight-acre parcel of land at 133 West Union St. (Rt. 135), there is no definitive recommendation for the property at this time. Some ideas have been to use the space as a function hall, an arts center, a working farm or office space.
Herbert hopes to have a project manager in place by the end of February. Funding for the two-year position would come from the Warren District account, which, Herbert said, is funded “from an array of non-taxpayer sources.”