Historical Commission fighting to save Lizzie Borden’s elementary school

June 19, 2019 12:07 am

By: Brittany Comak

Email: bcomak@abc6.com

Twitter: @BComakABC6

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) – The former elementary school of the infamous Lizzie Borden is likely to be demolished this fall, unless the owner of the property has a change of heart.

That’s what those on the Fall Rive Historical Commission, and in the Preservation Society of Fall River hope happens.

They were hopeful owner Kevin Santos would show up to Tuesday’s latest meeting on the issue, but he was noticeably absent, frustrating residents.

“I’m sure other people have questions as well, and he’s not here to answer those questions,” said the Commission Chairwoman Kristen Cantara Oliveira.

Because the school is on the list of the Fall River Register of Significant Structures, the demolition was automatically delayed six months.

But October is fast approaching, and the Commission says the owner of the property has yet to come to the table.

“We have less than four months from today before this happens,” said Cantara Oliveira.

It was in March of this year when Santos made the Fall River Historical Commission aware of his intentions to demolish the historic Nathaniel Borden Elementary School.

According to the Fall River Preservation Society, Santos bought the building in 2012 for just $5,000. They say his original plan was to redevelop the existing structure into apartments.

But the building has sat, and is currently being used as a warehouse and office space.

“You just scammed out us of a building for $5,000, you let it sit there all these years so you could get a parking lot,” said one angry resident at Tuesday’s meeting. “This tax payer is not letting you get away with it.”

In a letter to the Commission, Santos stated that renovating the aging building would be “economically unfeasible,” costing millions of dollars, while demolishing it would cost just $400,000.

The Preservation Society says the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and meets many criteria for preservation, and historic tax credits.

“If Mr. Santos would be willing to appear before the commission or the public, and just discuss with the community, that he’s stated that he cares about deeply, hopefully we can all work together and help him pursue some of these alternative funding sources to help save the building,” said Alexander Silva of the Preservation Society.

Those on the Commission say there’s not much they can do in the immediate except to continue to engage the public on this issue.

“So when people say, ‘Should we preserve this building just because Lizzie Borden went to school here?’ Yeah, why not?” said Cantara Oliveira.

To prevent future issues with historic buildings, the Commission is aiming to get the demolition ordinance extended to a full year from six months, and the city to include a preservation restriction on any historic property that they sell in the future.

A Change.org petition has already garnered more than 850 signatures in the last week.

Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.