No room for out-of-favor inn

Lexington's Battle Green, where British soldiers and colonists engaged in one of the first conflicts of the American Revolution, is a national historic treasure.

The Battle Green Inn, a 1959 relic of the automobile age, is not.

"It attracts your attention in a negative way," said 35-year Lexington resident Emily Murphy, sipping coffee across Massachusetts Avenue from the motor inn. Sizing it up through Starbucks' window, husband Dan Murphy concluded, "It's dumpy."

Fine examples of 1950s architecture exist, even in Lexington, but the Battle Green Inn has no such value, architects said. Its driveway, a dark hole leading down into an underground garage, dominates an unremarkable facade in Lexington's cozy commercial district. The courtyard, ringed by wrought iron fencing more appropriate to a back yard in suburbia, is enclosed and invisible to pedestrians. The tiny windows on the building's sunny side might be appropriate on a noisy interstate, but here they shut out light and the street life surrounding Battle Green Inn.

Across New England, preservationists fight fiercely to preserve historic town centers, with their manicured commons and restored taverns and churches. Thomas Hastings of Hingham met resistance to his plan for housing in the 1750 Hersey House on the main route through Hingham's historic district. Three years ago, he tore down an old barn and successfully built townhouses and carriage houses in a renovation of the Langley Nye Tavern down the street.

An 11-unit condo project opened in 2003 on a side street in Winchester's historic town center, around the corner from a florist and Italian restaurant. Concord planners are weighing whether to permit more housing in the town center, near the North Bridge Battleground.

And the Wellesley Inn, a 1868 home that became a tea house in 1897, was demolished last April over objections from residents who said its six-column portico was a town landmark. Developers hoping to win approval for a condo-and-retail project, currently in the permit process, included columns in their design plans, said Wellesley's town planner, Meghan Conlon .

"There were a lot of historical concerns," she said.

But the Battle Green Inn is coming down, and almost no one objects.

Lexington's Historic Districts Commission is conducting final reviews for a proposal to build 30 luxury condominiums priced between $550,000 and more than $1 million. If the project clears the final hurdles, as early as this month , developers would break ground this year.

"There were very, very few people who asked us to retain any part of the building," said the motor inn's owner, Eric Shapiro, who is developing the $20 million condo project with Oaktree Development in Cambridge and Line Company Architects in Waltham.

The new condos are a product of strong demand by aging baby boomers who want to live within walking distance of their town center. Shapiro said many prospective buyers have asked to be on a waiting list for the units.

The condo proposal for The Commons in Lexington Center would bear no resemblance to the Battle Green Inn, which is in disrepair. The motel courtyard's water-stained carpet covers a sagging foundation, and a small pool off to the side looks forlorn. Out-of-town travelers lured by its proximity to the Battle Green scorned the inn on tripadvisor.com, a travel website, for the condition and for some guests who pay by the week or month to live there. "Too bad it has gone to the dogs," wrote one reviewer, a self-described "world traveler."

"I slept in fear and disgust and checked out as soon as the [sun] came up," another wrote.

Shapiro, keenly aware of the inn's physical drawbacks, said he attempted to refurbish the hotel but couldn't make a go of it in the tourism downturn after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Battle Green Inn is "nothing extraordinary," said Boston architect David Fixler of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture. "It's not a building that the preservationists are going to go to the mat for."

In town meetings, some town officials argued some type of lodging was the best use for the property, due to strong demand from history buffs and families who visit Lexington Common. Dawn McKenna, former chairwoman of the board of selectman and a current selectman, did not want the motor inn to be torn down.

"The reputation of the hotel was not helpful" to her cause, she said.

Erik Rhodin of Line Company Architects said the new development was designed to complement surrounding buildings. Town officials required changes to the original design to reduce the new building's bulk, and developers scrapped a proposed fourth floor and put dormers on the third floor because they are less visible from the street. On the ground floor, the retail space will blend seamlessly with the residential balconies and dormers overhead.

The underground garage will be refurbished and its entrance moved to a side street, Waltham Street, where residents will drive into a stylish portico, a sharp contrast to the driveway that exists now, Rhodin said. The portico will be on the same scale as two historic homes next door. The wall with the tiny windows will be replaced with large windows on each floor, balconies, and patios.

A single remnant of the Battle Green Inn will be preserved: Its red neon sign will be donated to the Lexington Historical Society, Rhodin said. It may also be used in the new residence's lobby.

"Not too many" wanted to preserve the building, planning director, Maryann McCall-Taylor, said.

But, she added, the neon sign is "an icon in the downtown."

Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.