Worcester plans to acquire three Becker properties for $4 6M wbjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wbjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Becker College’s Worcester campus so blends into its neighborhood west of downtown someone could pass through and, if it weren’t for the blue Becker banners on a few dozen buildings, barely notice it’s a campus at all.
But how seamlessly Becker’s roster of late 19th-century and early 20th-century buildings fit amid the blocks of shaded streets just off Elm Park puts pressure on Worcester and Becker to ensure the buildings find new useful life after the school closes after the spring semester.
“They are extremely important properties in the city,” said Deborah Packard, the executive director of Preservation Worcester, an advocacy group for historic preservation.
With 36 Becker College buildings, Worcester neighborhood faces uncertain future
WORCESTER As Becker College s impending closure looms over the Elm Park neighborhood and Worcester, nearby property owners and city officials hope that the college s property is taken over by responsible owners. Each campus is an economic engine in and of itself, Timothy P. Murray, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said, The loss of Becker both in the Highland Street, Elm Park neighborhood and Leicester is a blow to both the neighborhood and regional economy. The disposition of assets is going to be important to try to make sure we are collectively trying to infill the neighborhood in a way that supports the neighborhood businesses.
By Laura Porter
If you pay attention, there are remnants of Worcester’s past on every block: a cornerstone from a different century; distinctive arches above a set of windows; a building’s original name preserved in stone.
Although much has been lost to time and new construction, there are also a surprising number of historic homes across the city that survive. Built by Worcester’s most prominent citizens, their wealth often rooted in industry, houses impressive in style and materials continue to dominate quite a few neighborhoods.
Many are in good shape, occupied by families or adapted for business or nonprofit use. But mistreatment and neglect have nearly destroyed others, leaving them ramshackle and broken, both inside and out.