Page 48 - BusinessWest December 26, 2022

also the undertakers. He also owned a piece of the cemetery,” Peake told BusinessWest. “He was a real entrepreneur.”
Around 1896, Lambson installed the hydrau- lic elevator, likely one of the first in operation in Massachusetts, and the first and only hydraulic elevator designed and manufactured at the Wash- burn Shops at WPI. The elevator was in continu- ous use until 1998.
Around 1910, a two-and-a-half-story ware- house was added to the rear of the building, prob- ably serving as a shipping and storage facility
for furniture that was shipped to the company.
disrepair, in an effort to develop increased pub- lic parking to support business in the Elm Street business district. Unfortunately, the demolition of the warehouse left the back wall of the main building physically scarred, while former egress points for the two buildings were eliminated, rendering the upper floors of the main build-
ing in code violation for occupancy. The access doorways were covered with plywood, and much of the brickwork on the rear of the building
was damaged. In addition, both corners of the building suffered considerable damage. Finally, demolition of the rear warehouse removed the
“We are excited and already exploring design options that would allow us to use the space to support live music and arts events that are currently being initiated by other businesses in the Elm Street district.”
Finally, in 1924, a fourth story was added to the building.
After the furniture company closed in 2002, the building was purchased in 2004 by Brian Whitely, who operated Bentley Billiards on the first floor of the Lambson Building and the first and second floors of the adjoining building until it closed in 2007. During the 12 years that the property was unoccupied, Whitely upgraded many of the mechanical components of the main building.
In 2011, the city of Westfield purchased the rear warehouse, which had by then gone into
only directly accessible restroom facilities for the Lambson building.
That exterior damage was repaired — and
the aesthetics improved — with the help of that initial $350,000 grant, as well as investments by the Lambson Square Properties team. Besides Borowski, principal owner of Beyond Build-
ing Inc., and Peake, that team includes Eugene Borowski Sr., principal owner of Borowski Accounting Inc., and Tristram Metcalfe III, prin- cipal owner of Metcalfe Associates Architecture. Joining the Lambson Square Properties team for this project is Sidney Hubbell, construction man-
One of the current tasks is modernizing the original, 126-year- old hydraulic elevator.
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Beyond the interior work, Borowski and the
team see potential in developing the open space behind the building into a small public-park-like area that might be covered and provide public access to bench seating and perhaps some fixed- in-place board games.
“We see the back wall of the building as the least historically significant portion of the build- ing, yet the part of the building that cries out most for creative planning and use,” the CPA funding application notes. “We are excited and already exploring design options that would allow us to use the space to support live music and arts events that are currently being initiated by other businesses in the Elm Street district.”
Spring Ahead
Before the pandemic, Borowski said, he had two restaurants lined up as first-floor tenants, but those plans later fell apart. He’s confident others will emerge, but at first, he might hire a general manager and open up a restaurant himself. “I know we would do well, and the city’s dying for some entertainment and good food.”
Meanwhile, professors from Westfield State University have visited, and ideas kicked around include a science museum or another education- al project.
At any rate, if completion of the interior goes as planned, Borowski is looking at tenants moving in by the spring. “The sprinkler, electrical, water, sewer, all the infrastructure is done, and I can tell you, that’s the hardest thing.”
Borowski paused for a moment late in his tour of the buildings with BusinessWest and tried to capture what initially drew him to this investment.
“My father and I looked at this as a righteous project,” he said. “This is a Westfield jewel here. This is part of the community. I feel like we’re not the owners of this property; we’re simply the care- takers. And I am privileged to take care of it, to be able to do a project that means something, you know? There’s just something here.”
And soon, there will be much more. u Joseph Bednar can be reached at
[email protected]
48 DECEMBER 26, 2022
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
BusinessWest