Historic Districts Commission backs Wayside Inn restoration over replacement on 140 windows

SUDBURY — April 9, 2026 — Sudbury HDC steers Wayside Inn toward restoration and presses for redesign of police-station solar canopy. The commission gave informal April 9 guidance on two major upcoming projects without taking a binding vote. Wayside Inn trustee Victor Stokowski told members the inn has $310,000 — $250,000 from an anonymous donor and $60,000 from the Sudbury Foundation — to address 140 windows, and that a Saxonville restoration firm came in below the replacement contractor who completed the 2024 Forward Room. Chair Anuraj Shah said those Forward Room windows "look completely inappropriate in the historic space" because the double-pane glass reads as new. On the police-station solar canopy, Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran and Byron Woodman of Select Energy projected roughly $120,000 in 25-year net savings on the PPA; Member Christopher Hagger called the rendering "appalling" against the historic-style police and fire buildings. The case was continued to June 4.