Joint Boards of Selectmen Chairman Jim Fay, from Ayer, moved quickly through the agenda at the July 28 meeting of the board until he got to the topic of updates on Vicksburg Square, the topic Ayer Selectman Frank Maxant appeared to have been waiting for.
“I had an epiphany,” Maxant said. “I believe that the whole purpose of historic preservation is to take some legacy from the past and reuse it for some benefit in the future. Given the realities of municipal government, it is irresponsible to zone more residential [properties ], particularly in Ayer where we have all kinds of residential property being developed. I think Vicksburg Square will be an albatross around our neck forever; there is no point in preserving something that will be a liability. I have adopted the attitude that the highest use of Vicksburg Square is as a brick quarry…there is a wonderful market for used brick and salvage. Lots of business for Devens Recycling Center.”
Upon hearing Maxant’s statement, Havard Selectman Peter Warren rose from his chair.
“I am sorry, but I’ve been listening to Frank from the beginning [of discussions of the redevelopment of Vicksburg Square] and I think [Vicksburg Square] is the jewel of the Central Massachusetts region,” Warren said. “I am not going to sit here and listen to this gentleman any longer,” Warren said, before walking out of the meeting and the building and not returning.
Warren later told the Press he was concerned that the history of Fort Devens was in jeopardy and that “the memory of the men and women who shipped out to World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War could be lost.”
