Land Bank shuffling houses to open up view of Lily Pond
1820s cottage is offered to public for the taking
BY PETER B. BRACE
Having open space within an urban setting is fortune enough for most cities and towns, but being able to see it whilst passing by is even better.

If there are no takers for this cottage near Lily Pond, then the Land Bank will move it to its Mizzenmast Extension property, off Bartlett Road, where it will be used as employee housing.

With that thinking in mind, the Nantucket Islands Land Bank is shuffling two of its buildings around to give people broader views of its Lily Pond property off North Liberty Street.

Barely visible from Lily Street and not at all from West Chester, the third bordering road, North Liberty Street offers limited views of this oasis of green in the downtown as drivers and pedestrians move along this street opposite Woodbury Lane and Grove Lane.

To open what Land Bank Property Manager Bruce Perry calls the "view shed" of Lily Pond from North Liberty Street by about 800 feet, the Land Bank got permission from the Historic District Commission at the HDC's Nov. 29 meeting to move the house at 19 North Liberty St., formerly owned by the late Erna Blair and which it owns, off its lot. To do this, the HDC also granted approval to the Land Bank to relocate the cottage from 15 North Liberty St., the site where the 19 North Liberty St. house will go.

The cottage, said Perry, will be advertised in island newspapers for anyone who wants to take it and use it. If there are no takers, the Land Bank will move it to its property on Mizzenmast Extension where it will be used for employee housing. The key to opening up the view is removing the cottage, which depends on how soon someone comes forward to take it off the Land Bank's hands.

The house, built in 1820, would be renovated inside once moved to its new lot and after the Land Bank finds the funding to do the work.

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