With sale, Higgins site prepares for second life
PHOTO/FILE
The former Higgins Armory Museum, on Barber Avenue in Worcester, could become a multi-use site after its sale to a developer who bought and redeveloped a similar building in Pawtucket, R.I.
When the Higgins Armory Museum closed on New Year's Eve 2013, Worcester was left wondering whether the unique, art deco building would have a new owner who would find a new use for the building, or if it would sit vacant for years.
The city received its answer relatively quickly in December, when the building was sold to New Hampshire developer Brian Thibeault for $850,000. He's entertaining a wide range of plans as he looks for potential tenants and what the neighborhood would like to see.
“We are going to work with everybody,” he said. “We want to keep the building and make it better.”
The six-story, 42,000-square-foot facility brings with it approximately five acres of developable land, he said. With that much space and an exhibition hall crafted in a medieval style with 30-foot-high vaulted ceilings, (which had previously been rented out as event space) the location could also find appeal as a hotel.
Although tenants remain to be determined, Thibeault's main vision includes multiple uses. The security and multi-floor layout could allow such services as a day care center, banquet hall, auction house or housing.
“We want to work with the city and the community and if anyone has some need for some space we want to talk to them,” he said.
Thibeault said he's committed to maintaining the structure while making it more energy efficient. The museum was built by John Woodman Higgins to house his collection of arms and armor as well as the offices of his business, Worcester Pressed Steel Co. When it was completed in 1930, it became the first free-standing, multi-story building with continuous “glass curtain” walls (like those found on modern skyscrapers) in the United States, according to Sara Wermiel, who completed an architectural report on the building for museum officials before they put it on the market.
“Throughout his life — through his museum, lectures, and writing — Higgins argued that the practical could be beautiful and the beautiful practical. The building he commissioned was intended to demonstrate this,” she wrote in her report.
But that spurred concern among those in the area who felt the sale might take considerably longer than the year it took for the building to change hands. City Manager Edward Augustus said the age, which blends architecture and style that make such historic buildings attractive, can also make it harder to add modern sprinkler and heating and cooling systems.
“That's the challenge we have with a lot of (older) buildings,” he said. “The Worcester Memorial Auditorium is (also) a good example. It is a beautiful building with unique architectural features, but it makes it difficult to adapt it to another use.”
Nonetheless, Augustus is pleased with the Higgins purchase, saying the building's continued use will help a neighborhood that has been beset by the loss of trees due to the Asian Longhorn Beetle infestation and which has vacant retail sites along West Boylston Street.
“The idea that we can get that building back to a positive use is psychologically important to the community,” Augustus said.
Securing a buyer who would appreciate and preserve the building's unique nature was also important, said Suzanne Maas, the museum's execcutive director when it closed.
“I think the Higgins building is at its best when it is being used fully and consistently,” she said, explaining that it sits at a key commercial-residential junction in the neighborhood.
Thibeault, who has been in the real estate business for 10 years, pointed to his work at the Pawtucket Armory as an indication of how he'll work to maintain the building's historic architecture while putting it to its best use.
When Thibeault bought the Pawtucket, R.I., site in 2010, its interior needed attention, said Mayor Donald Grebien. Thibeault not only renovated it but worked within the city's vision, according to Grebien.
“He has been a very good partner,” Grebien said. “He is here to make a profit, but he does do a lot of goodwill within the city … in every move he has made he has been in partnership with us.”
The building was important to an arts district whose name, the Armory Arts District, was linked to the building. Thibeault worked with the arts community to maintain the neighborhood, said Aaron Hertzberg, director of the Pawtucket Foundation, which supports nonprofits in the city. And under Thibeault's ownership, the building continues to house artists and nonprofits.
Worcester officials will meet with Thibeault soon to discuss his vision for the Higgins, Augustus said. Once it becomes clearer what will be going into the building, the city will be able to discuss different incentive programs that might be available, he said.
“We want to help get that building back in use,” Augustus said.
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