Lansing Millis Memorial Building Millis, MA
Once the Town of Millis’s most celebrated landmark, the 1886 Lansing Millis Memorial Building has been ravaged by time. While its primary role as a train station remained consistent for the better part of a century, its secondary function regularly shifted: it was first used to house the public library’s (then small) collection, later as town offices, and most recently – after the building’s de-commissioning as a railroad depot – as a Montessori school. The station’s design is a unique fusion of the Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne, and Shingle styles, and local legend holds that its fieldstone walls contain at least one stone from each of the 38 states that existed at the time of construction.
SSV was engaged by the Town of Millis’s Permanent Buildings Committee to perform a conditions assessment and feasibility study for the building. Key deficiencies were identified and treatment recommendations provided, along with phased cost estimates. Priority items identified in the report included comprehensive replacement of gutters and masonry repairs. Several options for renovating and adaptively reusing the structure were also developed, and ranged from use as a rented commercial space to a live/work studio. The PBC plans to use the report as the basis for a capital funds request from the Town.