Cambridge Historical Commission Approves Chabad’s Demolition Plan

The Cambridge Historical Commission approved Harvard Chabad’s plan to demolish their 54-56 Banks St. property — a necessary step in their plans for expanding their building — in a Feb. 6 meeting.

In a previous hearing, Chabad had agreed to the commission’s request to preserve the buildings on 38-40 and 48 Banks Street.

Since then, Chabad has come out with an updated expansion proposal which would require the demolition of an additional building at 54-56 Banks St. — requiring them to appear once again before the CHC.

The Historical Commission primarily sought to answer whether Chabad’s property is architecturally and socially historic to determine whether or not it should be protected from demolition. In a January staff memo, the Historical Commission determined that the house in question was “significant for its connection with the development of the Kerry’s Corner neighborhood,” despite exterior renovations in 2007.

At Thursday’s meeting, however, the commission concluded that the building did not merit preferable preservation — leaving the only impediment to Chabad’s expansion their ongoing mediation with the Board of Zoning Authority.

The four-hour discussion saw numerous conflicting public comments, leading to accusations of hostility from Cambridge Historical Commissioner Paula Paris.

“I would say the majority of the public commentary has made our job very difficult,” Paris said, adding that “conflict between neighbors” made it hard for dialogue to occur.

Manager for the Massachusetts Historical Society, Gavin Kleespies spoke in favor of Chabad’s proposal for expansion.

“This new proposal does a very good job of contextualizing two historic structures,” he said. “We are losing a third historic structure.”

“That’s a choice to make, but I think that in terms of how the two that will survive are presented — I think it’s a good adaptive reuse of a space, and it’s a space that’s evolving and becoming more functional,” Kleespies added.

Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi; Ben Tymann from the law firm Tymann, Davis and Duffy; the architect on the project Jason Jewhurst; and Joshua Sydney from Sydney Project Management appeared in defense of the new proposal.

Zarchi noted capacity issues that Chabad has faced when hosting Sabbath events, which he said were “arguably the most central, regular focal point of Jewish life.” He pointed to a recent Sabbath where it was raining, and Chabad was unable to accommodate all attendees.

“The majority of them were out in the cold, in the tent with the rain,” he said. “Others were forced into the first floor of the building, others to the second floor of the building, and a large number were forced into 54 Bank Street.”

Members of the public were also given the opportunity to offer their opinions at the meeting, with some criticizing the proposed expansion.

“I walk down the street every day, and you get a real sense of the history of Cambridge, and you walk down especially that side of the street, and that building is part of it,” Cambridge resident Tom Serwold said. “In that way, it is very architecturally significant in that context.”

Some residents, however, voiced their support for Chabad’s plans.

“I feel like, as a citizen of Cambridge, if we hold this up, it is blocking the continued evolution of our incredible city,” Cambridge resident Emily Anne Jacobstein said.

“If you look in this neighborhood in particular, you have so many different styles,” she added. “Dunster’s right there, and then Mather, and then Banks Street. And that’s what makes it so unique and interesting, and we need to allow that continued evolution.”

—Staff Writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at sebastian.connolly@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @SebastianC4784.

—Staff Writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com.