Somerville Historic Commission Approves McGrath Plaque, Clears Three Properties for Demolition

Other Committee · Meeting of July 21, 2026

Somerville's Historic Preservation Commission cleared three buildings for demolition and ordered a memorial plaque as a condition of a fourth at its July 21 remote meeting. The commission, led by Chair Eric Parks, voted unanimously on all eight substantive items, finding 60 Medford Street, 64 Medford Street, and 9 Norwood Avenue not historically significant under the demolition delay ordinance, opening all three to demolition permitting. At 282-284 McGrath Highway, the commission found the building not preferably preserved but required a 12-by-18-inch interpretive plaque on the new building documenting the site's Portuguese and Brazilian immigrant commercial history, with language subject to staff review; attorney Mike LaRosa, representing the applicant, asked that a claim the site hosted Somerville's "first pizzeria" be omitted as, in his words, "a fake marketing tactic by a former occupant." The commission also approved an accessory dwelling unit and reduced rear addition at 46 Mount Vernon Street with conditions on trim detailing and pervious paver material review, granted a composite deck rebuild at 9 Brasso Avenue on the condition that no vinyl lattice be used, and reissued a lapsed certificate of appropriateness for EV charging infrastructure at 25 Atherton Street after Eversource delays stretched the original permit past its one-year window.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of July 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.