Fate of The 1927 Building Has Been Determined

On May 31, the Hudson Board of Education abandoned a proposal for housing and voted to proceed with plans to negotiate an agreement that will protect the oak allée and use the site of the 1927 building for public school purposes only, thanks to a generous gift from the Quagliata Foundation.

While this means the 1927 Building will be demolished, it also means that the proposal to keep only the front façade of the building and build condos behind it WILL NOT go forward. This is a huge victory for the historic district, which could have had an inappropriate development located in one of the most important neighborhoods in our town.

It also means that HHA will move forward on plans to complete the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) of the building and landscape and work with the District’s staff and contractor to salvage key architectural components. We hope those artifacts will someday be used to create a commemorative gateway from the oak allée to the school district grounds beyond.

Hudson Heritage Association is grateful to the Quagliata Foundation for its generous proposal that will provide resources to assist the District in funding projects that benefit Hudson’s students. In addition, we are grateful to a generous patron who has agreed to fund the HABS work and the expenses associated with salvaging the building’s key architectural components. But also, we are grateful to our members and others in the community who supported HHA as the District contemplated various options for this property. 

Thank you to everyone who attended school board meetings, sent letters and emails to the board, erected signs in their yard, and encouraged their friends and neighbors to speak out on this issue. Your work made a difference.

This was a challenging project from its earliest days. While we hoped from the outset that the 1927 Building could be saved, in the end, we can all be proud of the fact that the property will continue to serve Hudson’s students as an educational asset and will remain a cornerstone of the District’s nearly 100-acre campus in the heart of Hudson’s historic district.

Kathy Russell & Diccon Ong

Co-Presidents

Hudson Heritage Association