“If you bulldoze your heritage, you become just anywhere.”
- Sarah Delano, WHALE President, 1966-1982 -

WHALE has built its reputation by taking on challenges many thought impossible. Today, we take on one of our biggest challenges in recent years - the revitalization of a New Bedford neighborhood that surrounds the abandoned Queen Anne located at One Washington Square. With the Neighborhood Restoration Program, WHALE will realize its mission to promote the value and reuse of historic structures throughout New Bedford. Read on to learn more about WHALE's projects, which through historic preservation will  help to ensure that the New Bedford area becomes a better place to live, work, and play.

Neighborhood Restoration Program
Investing in our Neighborhoods

A Long History of Neighborhood Revitalization
WHALE has a long history of leading neighborhood revitalization efforts in New Bedford. Established in 1962 when urban renewal threatened entire neighborhoods, WHALE has remained committed to saving New Bedford’s history and architectural heritage from “death by neglect and the tyranny of the bulldozer.”WHALE’s original Neighborhood Revitalization effort focused on thewaterfront historic district & paved the way for what is today the New Bedford Whaling National Historical National Park. WHALE will use this proven formula of hard work, advocacy and public education once again with the Neighborhood Restoration Program.

WHALE’s Neighborhood Restoration Program is designed to look holistically at an entire neighborhood in New Bedford with a focus on restoration and revitalization. With strong support from New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang and New Bedford Economic Development Council, WHALE will initially be working with in the close knit Washington Square Neighborhood, full of historic and architecturally significant properties located on tree-lined streets.

 WHALE Gifts Akin House Back to Town of Dartmouth

WHALE – the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE of New Bedford – will be gifting the Elihu Akin House back to the Town of Dartmouth. WHALE representatives presented the conservation work and current status of the preservation project to the Dartmouth Select Board at their October meeting. The Select Board voted unanimously to accept the house from WHALE and thanked WHALE for its hard work and conservation of the house. All that's left to do is the legal paperwork.

WHALE purchased the c. 1762 cape-style house in 2003 from distant relatives of the Akin family for $185,000. At that time, the house had been in the Akin Family for 234 years. Recognizing the historical and cultural importance of the property, the Town of Dartmouth voted funds from the Community Preservation Act at town meeting to reimburse WHALE for the purchase price. As a result, a preservation restriction was placed on the property that required WHALE to convey the property back to the Town of Dartmouth.

“WHALE is proud to have saved the Akin House and taken on this challenging and rewarding conservation project,” said Peter Hawes, WHALE’s President of the Board. “We are confident that if WHALE did not purchase this abandoned house and property in 2003 with CPA funds,” continued Hawes, “the house would have been demolished if the property had been sold on the open market.” Hawes said that WHALE did what WHALE does best - saved an at-risk, historic property.

WHALE is no stranger to impossible and impractical preservation projects “At WHALE, we are acutely aware of the importance of our history, character, heritage and culture,” noted Lisa Sughrue, WHALE Executive Director, “and know only too well that when it is gone, it is lost forever. As a result, we are committed to saving our historical treasures and building our future on the best of the past for ourselves, our children and the generations yet to come.”

In 2005, WHALE began the daunting task of structurally stabilizing the Akin House and raising the funds necessary to complete this complex conservation project.  Structural stabilization and weatherproofing the house involved the following:
 • Replaced or repaired all rotted girts, sills, posts, joists, and plates
 • Repaired broken and rotted section of the summer beam
 • Numbered and stored architectural elements to be reused
 • Collected artifacts found in the house and throughout the grounds
 • Repaired Rafters
 • Exterior Trim Work
 • Shingled the roof and side walls
 • Sash repair and reglaze front windows
 • Paint the trim on the exterior of the house
 • Framed plexiglas openings that show the structure of the house from the
             exterior. These will be interpretive exhibits in the Cultural Heritage Center
 • Glued falling plaster back in place on the ceiling and back walls
• Secure windows with plywood and plexiglas to prevent weather from penetrating the house yet allowing sunlight into the house
 • Secured the back door and basement pavilion protecting them from the weather

In total, WHALE has spent more than $385,000 on the purchase, maintenance, structural stabilization and weatherproofing of the Akin House. WHALE has raised nearly $362,000 in grants, donations and fundraisers. As a result, WHALE has contributed more than $23,000 of its own operating funds to cover costs associated with Akin. That doesn’t include thousands of hours of staff time and resources that were contributed to the project valued at more than $200,000. All funds raised for the Akin House were put in a dedicated account and used solely for the Akin House. WHALE did not retain any funds for administrative purposes.

“WHALE has made a significant commitment to Akin and Dartmouth,” noted Jim Mathes, Chair of the Akin Working Group and WHALE Board Member. “This house, which is older than America, stands today because of WHALE.” The Akin Working Group was charged with negotiating the gift of the Akin House back to the Town of Dartmouth at the earliest possible date as required in the signed preservation restriction on the property. WHALE had to return the property back to the town by December 31, 2008.

Today, the Akin House proudly stands, structurally stabilized and protected from the weather. “We are proud of the amazing conservation work that we have accomplished on this historic house,” noted Sughrue. “To bring this historic house from what it looked like when WHALE purchased the property to where it is now, is truly an amazing feat. One that we are extremely proud of.” She stressed that the Akin House project clearly exemplifies WHALE’s mission which is to promote the value and reuse of our historic resources through historic preservation, education, and advocacy. “We are proud to say that WHALE saved this little house,” continued Sughrue, “structurally stabilized it, and prepared it be brought into the next phase of conservation for its reuse as a Cultural Heritage Center.”

WHALE purchased the house from distant members of the Akin family with Community Preservation Act funds from the Town of Dartmouth in 2003. The Akin House was one of the few spared when the town was attacked during the American Revolution in 1778 and most of Padanaram  Village was burned. In fact, it was the only property of then prominent businessman and one of Dartmouth's founders Elihu Akin to survive and it remained in the family for over 230 years.

Our Akin Committee, which includes 15 Dartmouth residents and abutters, believes that the Akin House should become a Cultural Heritage Center. Open to the public, it will tell the history of Dartmouth and its occupants as well as become a working classroom for construction styles and techniques. It will be one-of-a kind in our region and will be a tremendous educational resource. We intend to restore the house so that visitors will be able to visually see the changes the house has undergone. For example, in the south parlor, we will leave part of the ceiling with the original beams exposed (as it would have been built originally) and part of the ceiling paneled as it was when we purchased the house (the paneling was a later addition). The Cultural Heritage Center will be a great learning tool for local school children as well as architectural and historic preservation students.

WHALE has raised nearly $120,000 toward the conservation of this house. Currently, the house has been structurally stabilized and exterior conservation is complete. Now, our efforts turn toward interior conservation of the Akin House as a Cultural Heritage Center. Estimates for this work are upwards of $150,000 so more funds need to be raised. WHALE is in the process of applying for specific grants that would fund the interior work as well as organize fundraisers with all funds going into a dedicated account for the Akin House conservation. Upon completion, WHALE will give the house back to the town.

The Akin House is a great example that a historic home, even one that has been abandoned for years and in great disrepair, can be saved, restored and conserved. Adam Waring of Architectural Preservation Group (restoration contractors for the Akin House) said the Akin House “is as bad as it gets” and “is the worst we’ve ever worked on”. By taking on its restoration, WHALE hopes to build awareness that historically significant homes of all shapes, sizes and scales are worthy of saving and preserving. We hope to educate the general public that we shouldn’t discard these treasures and pieces of our past because they explain where we have been, where we came from and how we got to where we are now. We easily answer our critics when they ask “Why bother?” The answer is simple. We bother because we can, because it matters and once we lose a piece of our history, our character and ourselves, it is lost forever. And, we don’t want New Bedford and our surrounding communities to become “Just Anywhere”. WHALE has always prided itself on making impossible dreams come true and the Elihu Akin House is just one more in a long line of examples..

Redesign
of Route 18
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
A longtime goal of WHALE, to reconnect the Downtown Historic District with the waterfront in New Bedford, is one step closer to becoming a reality. WHALE, working with the City of New Bedford, was instrumental in obtaining $16.3 million for the redesign of the highway.

Called "the single biggest project other than the National Park to hit New Bedford in a generation", the redesign of Route 18 will reconnect the Downtown Historic District and Whaling National Park with the working waterfront. The plan will calm traffic, allow safer pedestrian passage, link neighborhoods, recapture lost economic opportunities and create a beautiful entrance into our National Park.