East Hampton Village officials should be prepared for careful public scrutiny regarding the 18th-century house on Main Street that had until relatively recently been a modest historical museum and home to the East Hampton Historical Society. The Osborn-Jackson House, as it has come to be known, is an important piece of the village’s streetscape and heritage, yet Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, has said, “I would condemn it tomorrow if I could” — the implication being that, given its state of disrepair, he’d prefer it be demolished, if he had his druthers.
From 1977 until last week, the Osborn-Jackson House’s setting had also been generally protected by easements preventing development of an adjacent lot. However, in a 5-to-0 vote on Friday without public comment or much advance open discussion, those easements were put aside, allowing for its potential development. So, too, was the restriction that said that the historical house at 101 Main Street could only be a museum.
What happens next will be very important to Main Street.
Left to their own devices, the current village board’s aesthetic choices have tended toward the generic and the modern. It would be a shame if the Osborn-Jackson House got a visual (rather than strictly structural) makeover, or was used in any way that would diminish its historical integrity and charm.
One idea that has floated in the ether since the historical society was asked to decamp to Clinton Academy is that, positioned as it is between the shops and residences of Main Street, it would be a terrific location to house the offices of not one but several East Hampton nonprofits. Our town lacks a nonprofit hub, and we here at The Star have heard requests for something similar, a place where people could go to be hooked up with volunteer opportunities and information.
Like all village-owned assets, Osborn-Jackson’s real owners are the people of the village, not the occupants of Village Hall, per se. Any future plans for this important structure should be debated and discussed by residents and stakeholders. Scrutiny and discussion have always been the tradition in this village — and should be welcomed by all our elected officials. Let’s hear it in the Letters to the Editor.