Although I completely agree with and wholeheartedly support the mission of Amherst Media, I am concerned about the appropriateness of its proposed building for the corner of Gray and Main Streets. I agree that this is a great location for Amherst Media, but with this location comes the responsibility to create a structure that is in visual harmony with the most important historic neighborhood in Amherst: the Emily Dickinson Local Historic District.
Amherst Media’s new headquarters will occupy the gateway to this historic district. A barn of the proposed type would never have been built there in the past, given the location and history of the property, nor would it fit in harmoniously today. Type in the term “barn logo” in your web browser and select the images tab to see the results. The proposed structure is the stereotypical “red barn”— hip-roofed on the gable ends with cupolas. A design for this location has to play nicely with three late-19th- and early-20th-century white houses that march up Gray Street from this lot, two 19th-century mansions that reside behind it and a late-19th-century house and a brick commercial building that sit across Main Street.
A barn-like form is not incompatible with this location, but it needs to be simpler, dispensing with the hipped-roofed gables and multiple cupolas. It could be a modern take on a vernacular barn. This would be a graceful gabled-roofed form sheathed in clapboard with its walls punctuated by carefully placed casement windows and doors. It might be painted white or off-white to relate to its neighbors on Gray Street. An architect could create such a design, or a good pre-fab building company might be able to accomplish this in-house. It might cost a bit more, but maybe not.
Whatever building design is ultimately proposed, it has to be reviewed by the Local Historic District Commission. This body is charged with protecting the character of the Emily Dickinson Local Historic District and must review and approve any new construction located within the district. I hope that Amherst Media reconsiders their chosen design prior to submitting it to the commission.
Michael Hanke
Amherst