Upper Roberts Meadow Dam Section 106 Reviewp
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May 21, 2010
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Edward S. Huntley William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth
Director Massachusetts Historical Commission
Northampton Department of Public Works
125 Locust Street
Northampton, MA 01060
RE: Upper Roberts Meadow Dam Removal Project, Chesterfield Road, Northampton, MA.
MHC# RC.46364.
Dear Mr. Huntley:
As you may recall, on June 25, 2009, the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) responded to a
submittal from Baystate Environmental Consultants, Inc. regarding the project referenced above.
MHC recently received additional information that indicates that the project area of potential effect
includes the Upper Roberts Meadow Dam, originally called the Hoxie Reservoir Dam, a granite block,
gravity arch structure that, was constructed in 1883 by the City of Northampton for water supply. The dam
may be a significant as a municipal work in the history of the City of Northampton, and may be an
historic engineering structure.
Because the project will require permitting by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the project requires
review by =the' Corpse in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as
amended. The MHC is the office of the State Historic Preservation Officer, with a role as a consulting
party tothe Corps'-review_. The -City of Northampton is also a consulting party in this review. The Corps
requires its applicants and their consultants to undertake some initial aspects of the Section 106 process,
outlined in the regulations at 36 CFR 800. For more information about the Section 106 review process,
and a copy of the applicable regulations, please see www.achp.gov
To assist the City of Northampton and the Corps, the MHC will review the information that has been
submitted, request any additional information that may be required to evaluate the historical significance
of the structure using the National Register of Historic Places Criteria of Eligibility (36 CFR Part 60), and
offer MHC's opinion to the City of Northampton and the Corps about the historic significance of the dam.
If you have not already done so, please provide the Northampton Historical Commission with the project
planning information so that they may consider commenting on the proposed project to the Corps. MHC
would appreciate to continue receiving copies of any comments to the Corps regarding the project.
xc: see attached
220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125
(617) 727 -8470 • Fax: (617) 727 -5128
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