New Salem Museum owners seek common ground with abutters as site plan approval sought

From left, Marc Goldstein, the attorney representing New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art and owners Vincent and Laura Barletta, the museum’s Director Michael Klein and Project Manager Chris Lowman listen to New Salem Planning Board members speak at a public hearing on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/DOMENIC POLI
Published: 02-04-2025 12:16 PM |
NEW SALEM — The attorney representing the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art’s owners hopes to meet with some of the institution’s abutters to hash out differences as he works to secure site plan approval for this clients.
Marc Goldstein told the Greenfield Recorder he would like to sit down with the concerned abutters and their attorney, Barbara Lauriat, to try to reach an agreement that will satisfy all parties.
“I’m always optimistic that we can find common ground,” he said on Friday.
Goldstein was joined by the museum’s director, Michael Klein, as well as Project Manager Chris Lowman at a Planning Board public hearing on Wednesday to discuss next steps. A follow-up hearing will be held in the Stowell Building at 19 South Main St. at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Husband and wife Vincent and Laura Barletta bought 37 South Main St. from Vincent’s mother roughly five years ago with hopes of displaying their art collection for the public’s enjoyment and hosting fee-based events, though some in town have been concerned about environmental impacts, noise and alcohol use, as well as effects on water and septic systems.
The Barlettas received site plan approval in 2019 and renovated the facility. The following year they applied for and received special permits the Planning Board decided were necessary. However, a trial court judge ruled the portions of the New Salem zoning bylaw relied on for the issuance of the special permits were invalid. That case is now in the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Boston.
“What we determined was we needed a refreshed site plan approval,” Goldstein explained. “This is meant to be a more fulsome site plan review.”
David Cramer, the Planning Board clerk, said he is also optimistic an agreement can be reached.
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The Barlettas started their art collection in 2005 when they visited New York City for an anniversary and purchased one of Klein’s original oil paintings depicting his wife, Nelida. Klein, an award-winning realist, and Nelida live upstairs as around-the-clock caretakers. Some of Klein’s work hangs on the museum’s walls.
Laura Barletta previously explained she and her husband collect contemporary realism artwork, which she said is a modern North American movement by artists who paint in the style of brilliant European painters.
The building was once a dormitory and home economics education facility for New Salem Academy, which Vincent Barletta’s grandmother attended as a student. After the school closed in 1969, Vincent Barletta’s father, who shared the same name as his son, bought the building for sentimental reasons and turned it into a single-family dwelling that was used infrequently.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.