SOUTHWICK — With the Southwick Historical Society announcing a special fundraising campaign to help complete its acquisition of a 10.52-acre parcel on College Highway adjacent to its property, an anonymous donor is stepping in to help.
“This is wonderful news,” said Society Treasurer Pat Odiorne. “A donor has offered to match up to $10,000 in donations to the society.”
“This generous officer will allow any donor to double the value of their contribution,” she added.
At the recent Special Town Meeting, voters authorized an allocation request by the Community Preservation Committee of $164,000 to purchase the conservation restriction on the property for the Southwick Historical Society.
However, the property’s purchase price was $175,000 and only $125,000 of the CPC allocation was used to purchase the conservation restriction.
To help make up the $50,000 difference, the society’s goal is to raise $35,000 in 2025 to repay a loan it took out from a local credit union, Odiorne said, adding that part of loan repayment is funding from the estate of Suzanne Davis.
Of the $164,000 approved by Special Town Meeting, $39,050 of it is to install an informational kiosk on the property, signage and associated land acquisition costs.
The acquisition of the property will also allow the public access to the property from the parking lot of the Gillett Cigar Factory on the society’s property at 86 College Hwy.
“Your financial support is essential to the successful completion of this campaign and to ensure the long-term protection of this historic landscape,” Odiorne said.
One of the reasons the society wanted to acquire the property was to keep it from being developed as an industrial site.
When the society’s Lee Hamberg first approached the Select Board about the acquisition he said if the property was developed, it would “diminish the setting the Southwick History Museum and alter the area’s rural character. If the site isn’t protected, it will be first commercial/industrial development to greet visitors traveling north of Connecticut.”
He also said its acquisition also accomplished one of the goals of the town’s master plan, which is balancing the town’s distinctive New England heritage, rural character and commitment to natural resource protection with strategies for future development and growth.
The society also plans to have interpretive trails on the property based on topography, wetlands, agricultural usage, educational value and environmental assets, and in the kiosk photographs of some of the known flora and fauna on the property, and a short history about its use as the former Moore-Nicholson-Waterman Farm.
All donations from supporters are tax deductible. Checks can be made out to the Southwick Historical Society, Inc., and mailed to P.O. Box 323, Southwick, MA 01077.
