Board of Directors Considers Preservation Options for Great Lawn

The Board of Directors considered a quartet of options to preserve the , a 9.3-acre parcel of town-owned property that is part of the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District, as part of its meeting Tuesday evening but voted to take no action.

The town acquired the property from the Gryk family in 2002 for its “potential for the enrichment of the residents of Manchester and the state” and to block a private developer’s plans to erect a condominium development on the land, but have done little but mow the grass on the property since.

Because the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District, which includes the Cheney silk mills, the family mansions and Cheney Hall, has remained relatively unchanged since its development from the 1880s to the 1920s, it is one of only three designated landmark districts in all of Connecticut (the other two being the New Haven Green and the Village of Litchfield). Preservations and historians cite the district as offering a rare example of a 19th Century New England mill town.

Since the Great Lawn’s acquisition by the town in 2002, preservationists have pressed for a stronger guarantee that the land will not be used for anything other than preservation purposes into the future, which prompted town directors to ask Town Attorney Ryan Barry to draft a list of potential options for the land.

In a letter, Barry presented the Board of Directors with four potential options, but declined to offer a recommendation of which he favored.

Under the first option, titled “Status quo,” the board simply opted to do nothing about the property, which Barry wrote would maintain the current status quo of the land as “a significant, historic property with its aesthetic and sentimental value largely attributable to preserving the property in essentially its natural state.”

Under the second option, titled “Declaration of Restrictive Covenants,” the board could develop and vote on a set of restrictions to place on the property.

“This would represent recorded, self-imposed restrictions that could be crafted to require that the Great Lawn be managed and operated in a manner in which the proponents of preservation advocate,” Barry wrote.

Under the third option, titled “Designate the Great Lawn as a Local Historic Property,” the board could vote on an ordinance to declare the land a historic property under Connecticut General Statutes, which Barry wrote would then mandate that the land be maintained in “the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the public through the preservation and protection of ... places associated with the history ... of ... the municipality.” A historic property designation would also lead to the creation of a historic properties commission to oversee the specially designated district.

Under the fourth option, titled “Grant an Easement to The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation” the town would grant a “practically permanent” easement to the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation that would essentially turn control of the land over to the trust.

“In the Declaration, the restrictions to which the Town would be subject are quite extensive and detailed,” Barry wrote. “These restrictions concern the preservation of, among other things, land, a lawn, pasture, woodland and mixed woods. Also set forth are restrictions regarding changes to topography, the erection of signs, billboards and advertisements; and the dumping of trash and other ‘unsightly’ material.”

But like the members of the audience who spoke for and against almost all choices, members of the Board of Directors also seemed split on the options they favored most.

Kevin Zingler, a Democratic member of the board, said he did not see a problem with the town’s current stance toward the Great Lawn and couldn’t foresee a future board ever voting to develop the land.

“It would be creating a problem just to create a problem,” Zingler said of a potential declaration for or easement of the land.

While Mayor Louis Spadaccini said that he had issues with turning a town “asset,” which cost taxpayers $525,000, over to an outside organization like the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation.

Spadaccini said Manchester residents elected the Board of Directors to serve as the “trustees” of the town’s assets.