After years of protecting and sheltering local residents and students from inclement weather, the 101-year-old trolley station that sat outside of the Hasbrouck Laboratory is gone.

The structure – which in recent years had served as a bus shelter – was demolished by the Barr and Barr construction company on May 29 without the permission of the University of Massachusetts, a University official said.

There had been conflict over the removal of the trolley station for months before the building was demolished. A group called Preserve UMass, as well as the Amherst Historical Commission, had both taken an interest in the structure, which was built in 1911 for Amherst’s first trolley system, which ran through Sunderland and later to Northampton.

In a letter published in the Gazette in February, Jonathan Larson, an emeritus professor at the UMass, wrote: “ Unlike many historic structures that have been adapted to modern uses, the Waiting Station continues its original use to provide shelter, not for streetcar patrons, but for thousands of students, faculty, staff and others who use the public bus system that covers most of the towns once served by the Amherst and Sunderland Street Railway.”

It’s always a good idea to be on site when demolition is afoot on your property. Case in point: http://news.yahoo.com/18th-century-french-chateau-razed-mistake-124226251.html

We all know that restorations often look like neglect until they're nearly done. But I'm not a fan of that. Those first impressions really have an effect on people. A thing under restoration should LOOK to the untrained eye like it's under restoration, and I don't mind doing some work out-of-turn to achieve that look, even if it means doing the work over later.

If the public comes and sees something desperately needing paint, that draws attention and it's disappointing. But if they see 9 panels desperately needing paint, 3 panels in primer and 7 more panels freshly painted, that draws attention and it's inspiring: visitors see that it's actively being worked on. This actually looks better than work that is finished, which does not draw attention at all.

Second, never attribute to malice what can be easier attributed to stupidity.