Significance Awards honor historic community gems

LYNN – A home, a highway, a museum and a memory maker were deemed historically notable last week when the Historical Commission bestowed upon them Significance Awards.”This is our fourth annual Significance Awards,” said Commission Chairman Carl Greenler.Greenler explained to the nearly two dozen people gathered in Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy’s office that each year the nonprofit combs the city for pieces of property that have been preserved or rescued from destruction. The property does not have to be a mansion, however, as shown by the home chosen for the residential award, Greenler said.A two-family home at 15 Dearborn Ave. owned by the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development was deemed significant because of the renovation.Built in 1906, it underwent a complete transformation, but workers were able to maintain the original exterior architecture and style.”What was the eyesore of the neighborhood is now a charming example of an early 20th century workingman’s cottage,” Greenler said.State Rep. Lori Ehrlich was on hand to help celebrate the Public/Open Space Significance Award that went to Lynn Shore Reservation. Joined by members of the Friends of Lynn and Nahant Beach and representatives from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Ehrlich called the stretch of beach that runs from the Swampscott line to the Ward Bath House a jewel of the North Shore.”It is magic,” she said, while also praising the Friends group, “which has been recognized by the state as the most active Friends group in the state.”Robert Tucker, co-president of the Friends group, said working with DCR made all the difference as did continued support from Ehrlich and Sen. Thomas McGee. The state legislators helped get funding to redo the Ward Bath House, clean up the algae and maintain the area, he said.Greenler said the commission was especially impressed with the “interpretive signage project,” which educates the public to the history and natural resources in the area.The Mary Baker Eddy Historical Home Museum at 12 Broad St. took home the Significance Award in the commercial/nonprofit category.Sandra Houston, executive director of the Longyear Museum, which owns the property, along with eight other homes Mary Baker Eddy has lived in, called the Lynn home one of her favorites.”It’s the first house Mary Baker Eddy herself ever owned, and it’s where she laid the foundation for the Christian Science movement,” she said. “I tell visitors it’s the most important.”Houston said when they started the renovation project on the home, they knew it was going to be a big project, but they didn’t realize how big.”But we did it,” she said.Greenler said they peeled back layers of wallpaper and flooring, scraped and analyzed paint samples and floor finishes and charted the original placement of walls, windows and stairs.”Based on their research, the original floor plan has been restored and the interior finishes, fixtures and carpets more closely depict the home in which Mrs. Eddy and her husband, Gilbert Eddy, lived,” he said.David Riley Jr. said the people who won the previous awards did all the hard work, all he did was showcase the results, but for that he was awarded the Devotion Award. Riley is the creator of Historic Lynn, an original local cable access show that highlights the 20-plus locations in the city that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Riley said he got the idea for the multi-part docu-series from a five-minute meeting with his boss, who asked him what kind of project he planned to work on in his spare time.”He said to think about a series,” Riley said. “Not a lot of people think of Lynn as having all this beautiful architecture and history, but I see it all over.”In doing his research, Riley said he kept coming across properties listed on the national register, so he decided to make that his focus.He is in post production on the last installment of the series and already thinking about his next series. He said h