The Speedway Headquarters is not the only Shingle-style building with a recreational history in Massachusetts to be granted a new lease on life. Fifty miles away, the Superintendent's House at the Wachusett Mountain State Reservation has been undergoing rehabilitation through the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Historic Curatorship Program - the same program facilitating redevelopment of the Speedway. Besides their architecture and ownership, the two buildings have much in common. Both were constructed during at the turn of the twentieth century, when the state park system was being created; both served as residences for superintendents of state recreational agencies that eventually merged under DCR (the Metropolitan District Commission and Department of Environmental Management); both will contain food and beverage establishments and non-profit space; and both will serve as way-stations for people pursuing recreational opportunities in DCR parks. 

The Wachusett Superintendent's House, also known as the Vickery House, has long been a point of concern for the surrounding Princeton, MA community. Vacant for more than thirty years, the building sustained damage from the elements and vandalism. DCR's periodic investment in structural repairs was not enough to prevent the house from languishing.

Enter Katherine Huck and Robin Springfield. The Princeton residents wished to expand their local bakery Mountainside Market and were also eager see the Superintendent's House restored. Thus, when DCR included the building in its Historic Curatorship Program, Huck and Springfield seized the opportunity to do both. They proposed redeveloping the house as a mixed-use facility with a bakery, small brewery, offices, and non-profit space catering to the Princeton community, as well as visiting hikers, and skiers. DCR accepted their proposal and granted them a forty-year lease on the property. They commenced the $969,000 project last November. As with any historic preservation effort, rehabilitation of the Superintendent's House is far from easy. The structure must be brought up to code and its architectural features carefully repaired, sometimes off-site. In light of these complexities, Huck and Springfield estimate that full restoration will not be complete until 2023. However, they hope to open the ground floor to the pubic as early as this coming March. Patrons can expect an outdoor patio with Adirondack chairs and fire pits, a beautiful view of an adjacent hiking trail, and, of course, plenty of good food. 

For more information on the Wachusett Mountain Project, visit: 
http://www.mountainsidemarket.com/wachusett-mountain-project/