WORCESTER – The Historical Commission approved a petition on Thursday night for a new storefront at a proposed artists’ studio on Portland Street in downtown Worcester.
The Historical Commission unanimously approved a demolition delay waiver for Grid Worcester Holdings to replace plywood that is currently in place of a storefront entry at 28 Portland St.
Sandra Bonito, a representative for Grid Worcester Holdings, said they would also like to extend the existing opening for a new storefront. They will convert a window on the left side of the front of the building into a second entrance.
“It will be an artists’ studio, a workplace for artists in the community,” Bonito explained to the Historical Commission members on Thursday. “Which I think is much needed and in demand.”
The Historical Commission found the proposal a welcome addition to the city’s theater and arts district, with the Hanover Theatre and JMAC just blocks away.
According to state records, the building at 28 Portland St. was built around 1916 and is listed on the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. The property was formerly a hotel parking garage and later the Henshaw Motor Service Station.
MACRIS describes the property as “probably the city’s earliest parking garage…to provide off-street parking, apparently for the customers of the nearby Bancroft Hotel.”
The building was also home to various other businesses, including the Henshaw Motor Service Station (1918), Garfield Motor Truck Co. (1920), Lyons Auto Repair and Frank Gelly Auto Tops (1922). By 1958, the garage was occupied by Bancroft Motors and Holland’s Skateland, which according to MACRIS, was “apparently a skating rink.”
Lead image: 28 Portland St. in Worcester/Patrick Sargent for ThisWeekinWorcester.com
