The Chestnut Hill Historical Society’s beginnings, from one building to a community-wide future

by Shirley Hanson
Posted 3/17/22

The roots of the Chestnut Hill Conservancy go back to 1966, when VFW officials, worried about the potential loss of their building, scraped together funding to remove the third floor and transform their building at 8217-19 Germantown Avenue. 

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The Chestnut Hill Historical Society’s beginnings, from one building to a community-wide future

Posted

It all started in the mid-1960s with a threat to the place where veterans gathered for sanctuary and service.

The 110-year-old headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Chestnut Hill was crumbling and a section of its roof was missing. When the city condemned the building, VFW officials raised $10,000  to  bring it up to code.

But the proposed renovation threatened historic architectural design elements, raising the ire of several residents.  Their efforts to save the VFW and its historic design would lead to the founding of an organization whose mission was to preserve more than just one building.

The roots of the Chestnut Hill Historical Society, now Conservancy, go back to those days in 1966 when VFW officials, worried about the potential loss of their building, scraped together funding to remove the third floor and transform the remaining structure at 8217-19 Germantown Avenue. 

On October 13, 1966, Ellen Newbold, editor of The Chestnut Hill Local,  dramatically announced the “rather drastic renovation” of the VFW building. Her front-page article, with a photo of the VFW building’s condition, alerted the community.  

Residents Nancy Hubby and Ann Spaeth responded in letters to the newspaper. Ann Spaeth wrote that she hoped “an individual would step up to preserve this landmark in our community.”  But the continuous publicity in The Local and the women’s phone calls to dozens of Chestnut Hill residents to take on the building’s restoration failed to bolster the cause. Demolition of the third floor surged ahead.

Enter the “Committee for the Preservation of Historic Buildings in Chestnut Hill,” formed by Hubby and Spaeth.  Newbold’s spirited articles, editorials, and appeals for funds supported the committee’s efforts. “What’s in it for me?” Newbold wrote in one story, “Nothing except the pleasure of helping to preserve a beautiful and useful building for your children and grandchildren.”

VFW officials countered  the appeals to halt destruction with a challenge. The committee  could prove its commitment to the project by raising $4,000 within the next 48 hours. But the committee’s whirlwind fundraising produced only $800 and a promise to pay the cost of a restoration architect. But an hour after the deadline passed, an anonymous donor contributed $3,200, satisfying the VFW.  

The committee was given a month to raise a large portion of the estimated $35,000 for the building’s restoration. The National Trust for Historic Preservation made an unprecedented offer to open an escrow account for donations to the building. Instantly, contributions became tax deductible.

The community responded with donations from 50 cents to $1,500. The money and words of encouragement for this first community-wide attempt to preserve its heritage inspired the committee as they faced delays, puzzling details, and crises on the tough road to rescue the building. 

And, yes, there was opposition. “There is nothing historic in Chestnut Hill” were common words of ridicule.

The preservation committee’s tenacity, the VFW’s cooperation, and the community’s zeal preserved the building and gave birth to the Chestnut Hill Historical Society, incorporated in February 1967.  (Recently, the organization’s name was changed to the Chestnut Hill Conservancy.)

The new historical society’s highest goal:  to treat Chestnut Hill as a unit and preserve the qualities that would secure Chestnut Hill’s ongoing vitality.