Norman Larson: Huggins Hospital should stand behind their word

Huggins Hospital should stand behind what they said about Moultonborough’s Taylor House.

On Thursday July 1, the Selectboard ignored the will of Moultonborough’s voters and voted to demolish the Taylor House and restart discussions to sell the emptied five-acre site at the heart of our village to Huggins Hospital. Only a year ago we voters did not approve a warrant article to spend $75,000 to tear down the Taylor house. This year we did approve $75,000 to investigate site issues for building a community center on the Taylor property.

Remember, in mid-May the Board of Huggins Hospital refused to sign a Letter of Intent (drafted by the Selectboard with no public hearings) to purchase the Taylor property, which contained a provision that Huggins had to demolish the Taylor House. In the hospital’s statements afterward, they indicated that they had no immediate need or intention of expanding services in the village, and if they did in the future, they would consider including the Taylor House as part of any construction project. So why the rush to demolish the building now?

Why indeed? The Selectboard claims it was Huggins who insisted on demolition. Now the Selectboard links demolishing the building with their plan bring Huggins back to the negotiating table. If Huggins Hospital meant what they said, they should immediately notify the town, as well as the community, that they will not purchase the property without the historic building standing on it. Such a promise would only reinforce what they’ve already said publicly, and clarify that they meant it when they wrote that they want the town (not the Selectboard) to decide what to do with the house before entering into any further negotiations.

Inaction by the Huggins leadership is tantamount to complicity in the irrational and unwarranted drive to demolish this significant historic house at the center of Moultonborough Village. There’s no reason not to negotiate with Huggins, or with any other interested buyer for the property, but the negotiations shouldn’t be done in this underhanded way. If there is a solid intention to build something on the site, let’s talk about that in an open and public forum. The Selectboard’s actions and inactions over the past several years related to their refusal to care for the town’s asset are an embarrassment for our community.

The Selectboard should spend a portion of the demolition money that they so easily found last Thursday for the Taylor House, to instead complete the less expensive basic exterior maintenance and repairs that they have been actively refusing to do for years. Their deliberate neglect has caused the visible cosmetic damage on this structurally sound building, damage that they now claim makes the building too difficult to save. They know the building can be repaired for far less than their public statements indicate, and you should too. Let’s spend the money the right way: on preserving a significant piece of the town’s history instead of on creating a hole in our community and in our village.

Norman Larson

Moultonborough