Peabody council approves cash for new City Hall windows

PEABODY – Peabody’s historic City Hall is one step closer to getting 38 windows on the second floor replaced, as Councilors voted to approve the allocation of city funds.After failing in the Finance Committee meeting held earlier in the evening, the Council voted 7-4 to approve the request made by the Department of Community Development and Planning for $100,000 from sales of real estate funds be invested in the restoration project. They voted unanimously in both meetings to approve the use of $256,900 from Community Preservation.However, Councilors Dave Gravel, Jim Liacos and Barry Sinewitz had difficulty grasping the idea of spending $456,900 on windows, or approximately $12,000 per window.”I understand that these are historical windows,” said Liacos. “I’m still astounded by the fact that these windows are so expensive.”Director of Community Development Jean Delios explained to the Council that such restoration was needed in order to comply with historical preservation standards set by the state and federal government, as well as for safety and energy reasons.Employees have been forced to use space heaters to make up for the loss of heat through gaps and cracks, and one custodian reported having a window fall onto his head, as well as onto the parking lot, thankfully on a weekend when no one was around.”I understand these are very expensive,” said the City Hall custodian. “But one way or another, these windows need to be replaced.”The original building was built in 1883 during what is considered the Second Empire, a time where French Victorian design ruled most public buildings. In 1975, the original windows were replaced with those made of anodized aluminum.In order to receive an additional $100,000 grant from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund, maintaining the building’s historical architecture is a must.”We have a preservation restriction,” said Delios.”This is an absolute gorgeous building and I can’t say that about many other buildings downtown,” said Councilor Anne Manning, who strongly supported the restoration.Pending the grant from the state, the project would be Phase II of the overall window replacement plan at City Hall. The first phase, completed in 2002, replaced approximately 30 windows on the third floor. Heather Mallozzi said that if all goes well with Phase II, a Phase III that would replace basement windows and those on the first floor is a sure bet.”We would love to have a Phase III,” said Mallozzi. “But it’ll be a few more years before that happens.”