SWANSEA — The historic but blighted Preserved Gardner House on Milford Road is in splinters. At a special Town Meeting in May of this year, voters decided they’d rather spend $85,000 to demolish the home and regrade the land, forgoing the opportunity to pay for a $2 million restoration.
It’s apparent to passersby that demolition has begun, first with gaping walls that revealed the quaint interiors of rooms that once housed Little League, Park Commission and Recreational Commission meetings. The upper level was used as an apartment for the former park superintendent. Residents have taken to Facebook to document changes.
Now, the property has been reduced to beams and shingles, where heaps rest in a nearby dumpster.
Why Swansea’s Gardner House was demolished
The property was in “a severe state of disrepair,” according to the office of Town Administrator Mallory Aronstein. But Cheryl Bogle of the Swansea Historical Commission called this a mischaracterization, maintaining that “it is still in serviceable condition,” and “not a state of disrepair.”