A dilapidated building alongside I-93 that was once responsible for controlling several railroad tracks throughout Concord during the mid-1900s was given a reprieve from demolition. 

Though the roof is caving in, beams are falling down, windows are blown out and graffiti stains the interior and the exterior of the building, members of the Demolition Review Committee agreed on Wednesday night that the building was historically significant and should be saved. The committee decided not to make the same ruling on a freight building on the property and approved CSX Transportation’s permit for demolition, citing the dangers of the building. 

“Though we find the freight building to be historically significant, we also approve the demolition and we think it’s the right decision. It’s a very important piece of our past but the condition mandates that the building should come down as it does not appear to be safe,” said chair Jim Spain. “With the switch tower, seldom do we see a room full of people supporting a building in this manner. We find the tower building to be historically significant and part of our railroad past.” 

However, the committee’s decision to deny demolition only delays it another 30 days, giving CSX Transportation, who filed the permit for demolition last month, time to work with the city and preservationists to come up with a plan to repurpose or save the building. They can file another permit for demolition at the end of the delay. 

“We charge every one of you in the audience to put your thinking caps back on and try to come up with some really good ideas,” Spain said. “We’d like to see those ideas bare fruit so that we can, in fact, perhaps do something to save that building. It would be wonderful to see this building remain so that our children and grandchildren will be able to see this building.”

Ahead of the meeting, the committee received eight letters of support to deny the demolition, and the audience was filled with Concord residents of all ages urging the committee to do the same. One suggestion included an educational center to teach people about the railroad’s history in Concord and show short films. 

“The railroad arrived [in Concord] in 1842 and for the next century, it was the engine that underpinned the city’s economy and the reason Concord emerged as the city that we know today,” said Elizabeth Durfee Hengen, a Concord resident and former member of the Heritage Commission. “We lost repair shops, our magnificent station and supporting structures used by the railroad. The interlocking tower is a rare physical reminder of Concord’s reliance on the railroad.” 

A presentation by Rick Kfoury, vice president of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society, showcased the significance of the signal tower as one of a handful left in New England and one of two remaining in New Hampshire. It’s companion structure in Manchester is also at risk of demolition, and is in much worse condition, he explained. 

The signal tower played a vital role as a track switching point for the Boston & Maine rail yards arriving and departing from different directions on four tracks. At the time, Concord was a hub for freight and passenger train service in northern New England, which ended in 1980. 

From 1985 to around 2010, it served as headquarters for the independent Southern New England railroad, which was founded by former Concord resident Peter Dearness. Now, Dearness lives with his wife in a former train station in Goffstown, the Parker Railroad Station, which he renovated himself. Dearness remains passionate and vocal about preserving New England’s railroad history. 

While discussions continue about the fate of the switch tower, Dearness plans to ask representatives at CSX Transportation to place a tarp over the entirety of the building to protect it from further weathering, he said. 

“When there were holes in the roof, the slate was repaired but there were no windows and now we have a similar situation,” Dearness said. “Here we are, 40 years later, faced with trying to save it for a second time.” 

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