Chestnut Hill Living Article on Elaine Pierce and the Woburn Public Library

Drawn by a love of architectural and historic preservation, Elaine has been a Chestnut Hill resident since 1991. She earned a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Harvard in the 70’s and worked initially in Washington, D.C. for a national transportation policy commission. Research led her into the private sector, where she focused on strategic planning and finance acquiring two advanced finance degrees. All along she pursued her passion for preservation on an extracurricular basis and has built a 100-year-equivalent-legacy in Director and Officer service to many non-profit organizations. An example is our own magnificent Richardsonian Romanesque Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, www.waterworksmuseum.org, where she spent 20 years bringing the vision to reality and continues to serve on the Board.

Her latest endeavor is serving on the Foundation aimed at restoring the Woburn Public Library, known in some circles as the Winn Memorial Library, www.TheWPLFoundation.org. This original H.H. Richardson project was designed next after his landmark Trinity Church. It is a stunning architectural work still serving its original purpose and much in need of renovation and expansion for a community triple the size for which he originally designed the building. It also housed an art gallery and history museum which the Library Trustees plan to restore to showcase important artifacts long ago stored away. Elaine’s primary concern is finding foundations and grant-making organizations focused on Richardson, so the renovation work which has waited 135 years to be done can be executed properly. The Foundation is fundraising, the city is committing funds and the state is providing a matching grant in pursuit of the plan developed over many years by the community and a preservation-centric architect. She hopes to one day see as gleaming a building as Richardson produced, restored to its full magnificence, enhanced by 21st century uses and technology. That vision is very real for the Foundation Board, just as the Waterworks once was for a handful of neighbors. Elaine can be reached at pierceelaine@yahoo.com, or refer to the Foundation ad on page 26 for more details.