LEVERETT — With its home studios, gallery space at Leverett Crafts & Arts, historic buildings and conservation land, the town may have what it takes to become a state-designated cultural district.
David Henion, a Montague Road resident who has served as president of Leverett Crafts & Arts, made the pitch for seeking the designation to the Selectboard last week, saying that a cultural district could spur visitors to come to town.
“The idea is that Leverett has many unique elements,” Henion said.
Henion first broached the concept a year ago, but applications to the Massachusetts Cultural Council were closed. However, Henion said he spoke with Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and learned that new cultural districts will be approved in 2027.
Having such a district could allow for creation of a tourism map and inspire people who are already in town at the New England Peace Pagoda or the North Leverett Sawmill, a witness property to the American Revolution, to visit other sites.
The board took the idea under advisement while expressing concern over possible costs, both with the state requirements of a threshold of spending over a three-year period and the need to have a paid staff member oversee the district.
Selectboard member Tom Hankinson said he will look into whether there are any obstacles before an application is filed.
“Whether we can pull it off financially, I don’t know,” he said.
Fellow Selectboard member Jed Proujansky agreed that the town should at least investigate the possibility.
Driveway access
As the board considers a cultural district, another resident, Gregg Woodard, who owns the Post Office building at 7 Montague Road next to Town Hall, said he would like to resolve a longstanding issue with the town, which uses the Post Office driveway to access the Town Hall parking lot.
While the town uses the driveway through an informal agreement, Woodard said it may be time for the town to build its own driveway, on town-owned land.
The urgency of abandoning the shared driveway came recently when the U.S. Postal Service informed Woodard that Shutesbury residents would begin using the Leverett Post Office, a plan that is not moving forward. Had that happened, though, it would have necessitated an expansion of the building that has been in Woodard’s family for more than 90 years. The town’s continued use of the driveway would have impeded enlarging the building, he said.
Woodard suggested that if the town doesn’t build its own driveway, the town should take the current driveway by eminent domain.
Selectboard Chair Patricia Duffy suggested there may be a quick resolution, such as to require people to park across the street while visiting Town Hall. But the building is used for both municipal meetings and private functions, as well as Council on Aging lunches.
Woodard said he would like to reach a deal soon and he is frustrated by inaction since approaching the Selectboard in 2009.
“It’s been 17 years of working on a solution,” Woodard said.
Duffy said board members come and go, and she wasn’t aware in her time on the board of the issue with the driveway access.
Other business
In other business, the board:
- expects plans to soon be filed with the Conservation Commission to construct a new access road to the Gordon King Life Estate, also known as the Blueberry Patch, conservation land off Shutesbury Road. With approval from the commission, the Highway Department would build the path from Woodard’s Corner, resolving a Land Court lawsuit that has prevented public access from the main trailhead;
- approved, jointly with the Finance Committee, a series of financial transfers to close the books on the fiscal year 2026 budget. The panels worked with Kelli Pontbriand, the town accountant, on these transfers, which will allow the process of certifying free cash to begin;
- announced that a closed-door session with the Finance Committee and Board of Assessors will take place on July 28, where the discussion will be on how to deal with the anticipated significantly reduced assessment on the Kittredge Estate. That meeting follows the recent sale of the Yankee Candle founder’s property for $4.55 million, well below the original $23 million asking price in 2022;
- appointed Marilyn London-Ewing to the Board of Registrars.
