CPA project would preserve historic factory

Early in April, the town of Easton will close a deal to loan $4.5 million in Community Preservation Act funds to a private developer as a means of preserving the town’s most historic buildings.

The project involves the buildings that comprised the Ames Shovel Works, whose products are said to have been used by gold miners in California, Union soldiers during the Civil War, and transcontinental railroad laborers. In 2009, the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified the site as one of the nation’s most endangered historic places, describing it as “an industrial village, complete with worker housing and civic buildings of international architectural reputation.”

The project would lead to the creation of 117 apartments, about 30 percent of which would be affordable-housing units. Eventually, the affordable apartments would be converted to condominiums. The $4.5 million loan would be repaid to the town through the sale of the condominiums, 30 percent of which would remain affordable, according to Town Administrator David Colton.

An additional $3 million in CPA funds will be used to secure historical preservation restrictions and preserve open space. The town has lined up additional funding from the state’s MassWorks program, Colton said.

The project also has made it feasible for Easton to establish a wastewater treatment plant, which Colton said would benefit the town’s commercial district as well as the adjacent neighborhood of North Easton Village.

“There is a need for sewer capacity in the commercial district, [the lack of] which really has constrained economic growth,” Colton said.