The Old Town Hall in Lincoln.
Coldwell Banker has closed its office in the Old Town Hall, leaving the venerable building with just a single tenant: the U.S. Post Office.
Stacy Osur, who manages the building for the nonprofit Lincoln Old Town Hall Corporation, said Coldwell Banker left suddenly with no advance notice. The Old Town Hall Exchange shop closed when the pandemic hit and has not reopened. The two agents who worked in Lincoln, Lois Tetreault and Vita Theriault, are now working in the company’s Weston office.
Of greater concern, Osur said, is that some items in the office are missing. “I drove up to the building and it was literally stripped… They’ve taken things that belonged to the building, antique stuff that was hanging on the walls,” as well as rugs and artwork. “It’s pretty shocking.” She finally got hold of someone in Coldwell Banker in New Jersey who was involved in the decision to close the office, “and they pled ignorance.” Osur added that she’s billed the company for the items.
“It didn’t surprise anybody that the office closed. With the [computer] technology we have now, I would go into the physical office maybe once a month,” said Tetreault, whose father ran a real estate business in the same location before it merged with Coldwell Banker. “I’m sure it’s going to be happening more and more with smaller offices.” As to the furnishings, “the company didn’t take anything that didn’t belong to Coldwell Banker as far as I know. Nobody was invited to take it and I have absolutely no idea where it went.” Theriault did not return calls seeking comment.
The office space is now being renovated and updated in preparation for offering it to one or more new tenants. “The idea is to keep that building vibrant and going, and we need the income to pay for snow plowing and gardening and stuff like that,” Osur said. She added that she hopes to get Community Preservation Act funds for a fire suppression system and seek permission to install electric car chargers in the rear. Meanwhile, Lincoln resident Kate Dahmen confirmed that she’s hoping to reopen a shop in the building but declined to provide further details until plans have progressed further.
The Old Town Hall is now in its third location. It was built in 1848 close to the current location of Bemis Hall “for all Political, Temperance, Antislavery & Peace Meetings and Lecturers for Lyceum, and Singing Schools, for Picnics, Fairs and Sabbath School celebrations and for all Literary & Scientific Lecturers,” according to the building’s website. It was moved down the hill closer to the First Parish Church in 1884 and then to its current location in 1918. At various time it housed Lincoln’s first high school and the public library. Later tenants included a general store and gas station, a law office, and a small publisher.