Keeping the Soul of Cambridge’s Packing House with ESLC’s Carol Bean

Editor’s note: While it is rarely discussed at length or found in the blueprints of building restoration projects, one of the ultimate challenges facing architects, developers, and future tenants is how a historic site can maintain its soul after it has been renovated and modernized.
Beyond form and function, the markings of a successful restoration are preserving the aura of a building’s past.

That was certainly the challenge when the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy undertook repurposing the McCord Dry Cleaning building into a regional conservation center. And to ESLC’s credit, the historic sense of place is still very much alive in what is now known as the Eastern Shore Conservation Center.

With that in mind, we asked Spy agent Cecile Storm to chat with ESLC’s Carol Bean about the restoration work being done on the Packing House in Cambridge. In keeping with her organization’s work in revitalizing Eastern Shore communities, Carol is working with a collection of other stakeholders to bring new life into this historic structure while keeping the powerful memories of a unique space intact.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and the Packing House project please go here.