Category Archives: Historic Preservation

Historic preservation, Newburyport, MA, preserving, conserving and protecting buildings, objects, landscapes and street-scapes of historical significance in Newburyport, Massachusetts

Newburyport Stories

I open the present my son gives me for Christmas, a book. A skull with a cigarette on the front cover. My face obviously gives my skepticism away.

“No, Mom, really, he’s on the New York Times best seller list, I promise.”

I feel slightly better when I find out that the skull was painted by my favorite painter, Vincent Van Gogh. To say the least, I am still skeptical.

My son to reassure me, sits me down and reads the first short essay/story. It’s about germs. I’m still not won over.

But after all, this is my own beloved son, and I want to make at least some attempt to appreciate his thought out present to moi. So I plunk myself down in the comfiest chair I can find, and proceed to read the skull book. By the fourth essay/story, I am howling with laughter, and offer to read my son some of the stuff in his now much appreciated present. He declines.

The 8th essay/story is about a New York City woman, who could have been any number of characters that I’ve known so well. And I begin to wonder that maybe these stories have a lot less fiction in them than I first supposed.

And having struggled with, in what fashion to continue the Newburyport Blog, an idea begins to form. Stories, maybe fiction, maybe true, centered around my beloved New England seacoast city of Newburyport, MA, my stories, but hopefully somewhat universal as well as local.

What woman, Newburyport or elsewhere, hasn’t stood in front of the mirror and wondered about “midriff bulge.” Another version of, “Am I fat?”

What one of us, while considering the problem of “midriff bulge,” hasn’t also considered a personal financial fate in these lousy economic times.

Instead of “preaching” about historic preservation, and preserving the historic quality of this wonderful historic town, an experience of what it is like to live in an historic place, day after day, and how that adds to an unquantifiable quality of life.

Instead of talking about how upset I am about specific “restoration” and building projects, why not talk about historic preservation and boob jobs, hoping that people will start rating planning and historic preservation projects as a “double D boob job” as the worst, to a “braless wonder,” at their very best.

In December 2008 I find I am weary of pissing off my fellow Newburyport citizens, living under a constant risk of being sued or being threaten of being sued, and this appears to be a possible solution.

After trying to find every possible book by the skull guy, I finally Google him. And I find that, yes David Sedaris has not only been around for quite a long time, and I am very late to the David Sedaris planet, but also even that he has been on David Letterman a lot, no less, much less a visit to one of my favorites, Jon Stewart. From here on in, I vow to myself, I will trust my son’s taste in literature, even if the cover contains a picture of a skull.

Bras and Historic Preservation

Flipping through the channels, there appear to be more and more TV shows on plastic surgery. Especially plastic surgery for boobs. Is it size D or double DD? A lowly size C? Never do I hear these young and older women agree to a measly size B. What would be the point (pun intended).

And what the configuration of women’s paraphernalia tells us about our culture at large (see earlier entry on shapewear), much less that we as a culture now have shows on plastic surgery, says something about us, I think.

As I recall in the 1950’s, as I sat watching things like cartoons and racier stuff like “I Love Lucy,” there would be advertisements for “Cross Your Heart” bras that, from what I could make out, looked really, really uncomfortable, and made women’s boobs look unnatural, like less exaggerated, latter-day Madonna cone-shape, shape boobs. It said something about the times.

Later in the 1960’s bras literally went out the window or up in flames. If women actually wore bras, they were more “natural” shaped. This also said something about the times.

Today, it seems to me that the aim of upper women’s wear is to make every woman look like she’s had a boob job, whether she actually has had one or not. Not that I mind, looking like I’ve had a boob job, and not actually having paid for one, maybe that’s not such a bad idea, I don’t know. Upper woman’s wear, thick, molded and not a nipple showing. This, like the new 21st century, girdle, poising as shapewear, to me says something about the times we live in, I just don’t know what. That fake boobs, rather than the old fashion natural ones, are in?

And what in the world do women’s boobs, bras, the configuration of upper woman’s wear have to do with Newburyport, MA? As I mull this over in my brain, sometimes I think that it has to do with the fact that Newburyport, MA, more especially in boom times, is losing it’s lust, more and more, for actual real historic homes. The real thing, real historic homes, seem to be going out of fashion. The façade of historic homes seems to be more appealing.

As I walk through our historic district, I know how many house are replicas of the real thing. Architectural boob jobs if you will. Visually pleasing to the eye, often more easily sold for bigger bucks, but not the real thing.

To my eye, the real thing around town, actual old homes, seem like gems, not small or sagging breasts in need of reconstruction. But I worry that this view point of mine could be called quaint.

I guess one of my hopes in these lousy economic times, is that by the time they have hopefully righted themselves, peoples “values” could have changed, and real stuff, like historic homes in Newburyport, MA would be seen as the gems they were once seen as, rather than a possible opportunity to slash and stuff, a face lift, a boob job, to turn a tidy profit.

Web Design, Newburyport

The idea for the last of the free websites from Mary Baker Design, came from my walks around the historic district in Newburyport, MA. The web design is the “Window Box” website. A portion of the original photograph is at the top of the entry.

For me it is often the preservation of not only large elements, but also the small, sometimes intangible things, that preserve the “soul” of a city. In the photograph of “Window Box” there is one of those things. The window in the photograph is original to the house. Original glass is wavy, has “personality” if you will. A small thing, but when every window looked out of has historic glass in it, the experience adds up. The first house I owned in Newburyport, MA had original windows. And I loved looking out at the world though the window of all the people that had come before me.

The window in the photograph of “Window Box” has a storm window over it, which are often put on windows of historic homes. Storm windows appear to have gone out of fashion, which I think is too bad, because, when I had the privilege of living in an historic home, I thought they worked. In the photograph, you can see the screen on the storm window, as well as what I think of as a quintessential Newburyport, New England curtain.

And then there is of the custom, so loved in Newburyport, MA, of putting flowerboxes in windows all over our small, historic New England city, making it a delight, for people like me, to walk all over town, and appreciate the effort and pride that residence of Newburyport, MA have in their homes and in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

The demo of the free website “Window Box” at Mary Baker Design can be seen here. The web design of the “Window Box” can be downloaded for free here. If you need any help setting up your free web site, please feel free to contact me at Mary Baker Design. A screen shot of the web site is also included in this entry.

Newburyport Website Design

The second free website design that I created, contains three historic photographs of Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was a tough decision to decide which ones to use. But eventually I chose the photographs of the clipper ship in Newburyport’s waterfront harbor, a view of downtown Newburyport, looking up the Merrimac River, and a detail of the a clam worker from the historic photograph, the Clam Houses. All three photographs are in the public domain, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center at the Newburyport Public Library, in Newburyport, MA. The historic photograph of the Clam shack worker is at the top of this post.

The website design “Old Photographs” can be downloaded for free at Mary Baker Design. A demo of the Newburyport website design can be seen here.

The website design is in a WordPress format. WordPress is a terrific software. It is very flexible, and the person who downloads the website design can put their own title, description, content and navigating information on the top menu bar as well as on the side.

The site can be made to look like a website, a blog or a combination of both. If you are puzzled by what to do with the website once it is downloaded, please contact me at Mary Baker Design.

The first two websites based on the old photographs of Newburyport, MA are a way of giving back to the seacoast, New England city of Newburyport, MA that I love so much. And I figured that if the website designs are downloaded and used, that they would be a great advertising tool for the historic city of Newburyport, MA, a wonderful place to live, to work, to visit, to raise a family, to retire to and just to plain old enjoy and have fun. I’ve also included a snapshot of what the website design of “Old Photographs” actually looks like. You can see the “Old Photograph” website design page here.

Newburyport Websites

In this lousy economy I’ve been working on designing websites. And because there now appear to be so many folks blogging in Newburyport, MA, I’ve designed a series of free websites that can be downloaded for free at Mary Baker Design. The websites are in the form of WordPress software and can be configured in any way. The title, description, content and menus on the top and side can be custom created by the person who downloads the website. They can look like a blog, or they can be made to look like a website or a combination of both. If anyone does download a free website, I will be glad to help them set it up. See the contact information at Mary Baker Design.

Because the historic photograph of the Clam Shack Workers is so beloved in Newburyport, MA, I decided to use that photograph in the first free website design. The photograph of the Clam Shack Workers is in the public domain, courtesy of the Newburyport Archival Center at the Newburyport Public Library, in Newburyport, MA.

Over the years I’ve discovered that one of the things that folks seem to like best about the Newburyport Blog is the collection of Newburyport historic photographs, from either the Newburyport Public Library or the Library of Congress. The website “Clam Shack” is one of two free websites that uses old photographs of Newburyport, Massachusetts. A demo of the “Clam Shack” website can be seen here.

Newburyport Walking Season

The seasons of the year dictate when I go on my auto-pilot walk (see earlier entries) through the historic streets of Newburyport, Massachusetts.

During the winter, it’s at the warmest hours of the day, during my lunch break, sometime between 1:30 and 2:30 PM.

At the beginning of the season, before bitter cold and snow may set in, it always feels as if it’s just me and young mothers or the nannies, out to get a breath of fresh air, having bundled up the little ones who lounge in what always looks like extreme comfort, in varying degrees of fancy to not so fancy strollers.

By this time of year, it’s rare that I run into adults with young children. Nap time possibly has happened. Or just plain old exhaustion from bundling up small children for a breath of fresh air.

Instead I seem to hit the time when the “kids” get out of school. What always strikes me, is here are these young men and women, some (young men) literally in shorts. I, on the other hand, am bundled up like Nanook of the North. I always say to myself, “There is something wrong with this picture. There must be some weird medium between shorts at 12 degrees outside in Newburyport, MA, and Nanook of the North.”

And when the weather is like the weather that we have had lately, and no matter how much conscientious shoveling may have taken place, the only passable walking areas in the historic district of Newburyport, MA, are often in the middle of those historic Newburyport streets.

I end my walk at one of the oldest streets in Newburyport, MA, lined with Newburyport ancient saltbox houses. And at the end of the street there unfolds the mouth of the mighty Merrimac River, Plum Island, Salisbury and the expansive Atlantic Ocean beyond. This great vista puts so much in perspective, and I am reminded that I am only one minute piece of an amazing and often awe inspiring puzzle.

And when the weather gets slightly better, walking to downtown Newburyport is once again possible, without constantly jumping out of the way of the mighty automobile.

And I love that moment when historic downtown Newburyport comes into view. I always feel an amazing sense of comfort and peace, that this historic place that has survived so much–fires, depressed economic times, boom times, stands there with so much dignity and composure.

Rhododendron Weather Predicting Qualities

I don’t need to turn on the weather channel or peer at my web weather channel bookmark setting on my computer, to know in the morning when it’s New England cold outside.

When I wake up and my hands feel all crinkly and dry, I know it’s one of two thing. A) I’ve developed some mysterious fatal disease over the last 8 hours, or B) the humidity in the house has dropped because it’s freezing outside.

Since so far it has never been A) I usually figure it must be B).

After a few sips of coffee, I shuffle into my studio (where I’m also trying to madly expand Mary Baker Art by obsessively designing websites to be sent out into the world via the World Wide Web) and peer out my window at my trusty outdoor thermometer. And sure enough, it’s B), the wretched thing reads below 10 degrees, and it’s freezing outside.

I also learned to tell whether it was cold outside, without looking at an outdoor thermometer, by my Dad. As a young girl, by father would take me to the dinning room window, point at the loan rhododendron in the small yard next door, and point out that the leaves on the loan rhododendron were not perky, but shriveled and pointing straight down to the ground. Ergo, my father would point out, it was freezing outside and I better “bundle up.” Sure enough he was always right.

I’ve always been fond of rhododendrons. Maybe it’s the vast array of rhododendrons at Maudslay State Park here in Newburyport, that at one point were subjects of lots of paintings by me. Or, it could be the fond memories of my father’s rhododendron weather science predictions. Or it could be multi-determined.

I’ve planted all sorts of rhododendrons in my small Newburyport garden, and I peer at them on winter mornings, trying to guess the New England temperature, before I shuffle in and peer at my trusty outdoor weather thermometer. My rhododendrons, weather predicting wise, are always right on the money.

However, I’ve noticed that rhododendrons, landscaping wise, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, appear to be going out of fashion.

As I keep squeezing yet one more rhododendron plant in my now rhododendron filled small garden, I notice that huge, literally century old, magnificent and stately rhododendron plants are being hacked out of century old High Street magnificent gardens, not to mention lesser century old rhododendrons in “lesser” Newburyport destinations.

So, either I’m out of touch with new landscaping designs (which is highly probable), or the owners of the dwelling in which these gorgeous rhododendrons are being hacked down, don’t know about their weather predicting qualities. Or maybe they do know about their weather predicting qualities, but figure since they now live in the 21st century, they can watch the weather channel instead.

Newburyport, Power of Myth

Bill Moyers again did not disappoint.

In this weeks Bill Moyers Journal, Bill Moyers had this to say:

“The novelist Russell Banks, in his first book of non-fiction, just published, explains the Sarah Palin phenomenon even before it happened. In “Dreaming Up America,” he writes that we choose our presidents not on the basis of their experience or even their political views, but on how well they tap into our basic beliefs, our deepest communal desires, including our religious or spiritual beliefs. Our presidents, he writes, represent in some very personal way the imagination and the mythology of the people who elect them…”

“No wonder reality-based journalists are having a hard time with this story. Mythology is not their beat. But in the imagination of her tribe, Sarah Palin achieved an almost immaculate conception. Her lack of experience matters not to them. Nor do they care that her past is filled with contradictions, and nothing the press reports, no matter how grounded in fact, can shake their faith…”

The whole transcript can be read here.

And a comment on an opinion piece in the New York times has this to say:

“Sarah Palin appeals to the conservative base. But she also appeals to Americans who are longing for a glorious past. A past in which a hard working man could support a family, even if he did not have higher education (Todd Palin). A past in which a mother of young children could rely on relatives and friends to help her with her daily tasks. And, on a more archaic level, a past where you could go out and hunt and fish to bring food home to your family.

I have had enough of liberals making fun of the Palins. I do not agree with Sarah Palin’s political views, but I see how her life can be attractive in a society that is losing all these very basic securities.”

You can read that comment here.

And in a world where families are splintered, fragmented and globalized, I think the commentator is right when she says, “But she also appeals to Americans who are longing for a glorious past… A past in which a mother of young children could rely on relatives and friends to help her with her daily tasks.”

And it is also one of the reasons that people are so attracted to Newburyport, MA, because it holds out a myth, a myth of community, a community which people are an extended family, and support one another–that is so embodied by our beautiful, quaint, historic (and Federally funded) downtown, and the historic neighborhoods that surround it.

Historic Preservation and New England Churches

Having thought so much about the historic preservation of Newburyport, MA, our small, seacoast New England city, I’ve always thought about residential and commercial architecture. I guess I’ve always taken the picturesque New England churches that populate Newburyport, MA and our surrounding communities and states, for granted.

Maybe this needs some rethinking.

After all in Newburyport one of our downtown churches is now a restaurant. The French Church (Federal Street) was made “recently” into condominiums (see previous posts).

There is a small church on Purchase Street that was made into a one family home, a long time ago. Over the years it has acquired decks overlooking the mouth of the Merrimac River and the Atlantic Ocean, and various beautiful gardens. I no longer think of it as a church that has had a “readaptive reuse,” but as a very interesting looking one family home.

I’ve stopped thinking of the “church” downtown near Newburyport City Hall, that has been made into a restaurant, as a “church.” I think of it now as a restaurant that is also an interesting piece of architecture. It has a different sort of “soul” now.

As the congregations of our New England churches dwindle (see previous posts) and small congregations are left with large historic structures to maintain, my guess is that 10 years from now, the iconic structures that are often taken for granted–many of them may be no more or have “readaptive reuse.” And somehow that would subtly or not so subtly change the “soul” of Newburyport and other New England cities and towns.

This weekend when I was at the Greek Orthodox Church on Harris Street (they have unbelievably wonderful homemade Greek food at a 3 day Greek food festival at the start of Newburyport’s Yankee Homecoming) in Newburyport, I found out a very interesting piece of information that I never knew before.

I remember it well, on August 7, 1983 the old Greek Orthodox Church had the most horrendous fire. It was heartbreaking. But the congregation rallied, and the new church was built.

But the old church was originally built by the 2nd Presbyterian Society of Newburyport in 1796. The Church bell (which survived the fire of 1983) was a gift of “Timothy Dexter, Esquire.” The old church was sold at auction in 1924 and acquired for the price of $6,500 by the Greek Community.

Weathervane Thefts

One of the things that has concerned a lot of folks, in Newbury and Newburyport, MA, is the rumored removal of the weathervane on the top of First Parish Church in Newbury (the beautiful New England Church right across the border from Newburyport on Rt. 1A–see previous post).

Yes, that particular rumor is true. My friends at First Parish tell me, the weathervane did indeed come down. And if it could be worth the kind of money I might imagine it could be, my response would be, “For goodness sakes do not put it back up there. Sell it at auction, it could receive an unbelievable amount of money, and put up a replica instead.”

Why, someone could ask.

Weathervanes, if real, can be unbelievably valuable, and have been stolen from the tops of New England churches and barns for years. I kid you not.

“That is what happened to a weather vane depicting the archangel Gabriel that was stolen in 2003 from White Church in Crown Point, N.Y. It was taken to Fred Giampietro, a folk art dealer in New Haven, who recognized it at once. The theft is being investigated.” From a story in the New York Times, by the Associated Press, August 2007.

“It is ”deceptively simple” to steal vanes, said Samuel Pennington, publisher of The Maine Antique Digest. Vanes turn on a spindle and need only to be lifted inches to remove them..” From another story in the New York Times, July 1988.

“Sometimes the thieves’ ingenuity has been almost as quaint as their plunder. It has been reported that in several cases they hired helicopters to pluck their booty..” from a story in Time Magazine, December 1970.

This has obviously been something that’s been going on for some time. In fact in my brief Googling, I found a reference to it by Homer Simpson (yes, really) and a book on the premise by the Hardy Boys (I kid you not again).

The sale of the First Parish Church weathervane at auction could help keep the church open for another few years, as they continue their struggle to keep spiritually alive.

In the meantime, it would be great if the church could put a preservation restriction on the building, the way Old South Church did in Newburyport, MA. It would also be great, not only if the community rallied round to help preserve this iconic piece of architecture, but also for the church to put the community’s mind at rest, that in the name of “going green,” the historic integrity of this historic landmark would not be compromised.

New England Churches Endangered

One only has to follow the trials and tribulations of Old South Church here in Newburyport, MA, to know that the historic structures of our beautiful New England churches could often be in mucho trouble.

And making the rounds of the rumor mill is that First Parish Church in Newbury, the one just over the border on Rt. 1A, is slated for a gut job, in the name of “going green,” in an attempt to stay spiritually alive.

Disclaimer: First Parish Church was my church for over 15 years (I was the Sunday School Superintendent, among other things, good grief!).

Because I still have very good friends at First Parish Church, I thought I would make a few phone calls and find out what the heck is going on.

So I did.

No news to anyone who has been vaguely involved in any New England church. Except for an occasional church here and there, the congregations of churches would be dwindling fast, and the maintenance of these historic buildings cost an amazing amount of money.

The church is not going to be gutted, or “sell all the old materials of the old church to restoration carpenters and rebuild a green smaller church on top of the existing basement” (First Parish Church Newsletter, July 2008).

Desperate enough to contemplate such an idea, but after talking to trusted friends, no, not going to happen.

However, it is this blogger’s opinion that this church, with all its history, needs to go on “Endangered Property” lists everywhere, in Massachusetts and Nationally.

So preservationists out there, if you care about New England icons, such as this gorgeous building, good grief, contact First Parish Church and help them submit the building to be put on the Preservation Massachusetts 10 Most Endangered Resource List, as an example of what would be happening to historic churches everywhere in New England. Much easier to write grants after such a designation could be given.

There are churches all over the place (the French Church on Federal Street readily comes to mind), that have been made into condominiums, and the property that goes along with it, often gets developed (often in sensitive ways, such as the Federal Street Overlay).

If that’s not something you want to see happen to this particularly historic icon, call and offer to help. Historic preservationists this is an SOS.

Activists Then and Now

Having written about Jim Roy’s activism in the community over decades, and taking a look at what SEED is doing (see previous post) and even thinking about my own activism, I had several thoughts.

It’s possible what we could be seeing in successful activism, a “new breed” of activists that no longer see themselves as “outside” the community, nor do they see themselves as “victims.”

One could see this with the Newburyport Preservation Trust (NPT) as well. The NPT is working with the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce, and it is also working with the City of Newburyport itself.

The emphasis is not that preservation is a victim of developers, but the emphasis would be that historic preservation would be vital to the local economy.

When we fought MassHighway in 1999, the emphasis was that our small New England city would be a victim of thoughtless bureaucracy.

When Al Decie and CEB fought for the Access Road (among many other things, see previous post), the folks fighting for the environment could be cast as victims of local business and politicians. And local business, it seems, could often complain of being “victimized” by CEB. Lots of drama.

In contrast, SEED has worked with the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and has been embraced by the City of Newburyport, MA. They are seen as “non-political.”

Interesting.

Even recently, in the fight for the Override for our schools, last spring, the folks who were fighting for the school system, could be perceived by many as angry “victims,” who in turn could be “victimizing” other folks with their “demands.” And it appeared to not “sit pretty.”

The approach by SEED and the Newburyport Preservation Trust seems to be working. And they appear to be “unifying” instead of “divisive,” activists who are “non-activists,” who are “non-political.”

Activism without the appearance of “blame.” Activism without the appearance of “shame.” Activism without the appearance of a “guilt trip.”

Definitely a new possible prototype.

And it could have something to do with the time of Newburyport, MA. We seem to be through most of the transition (see previous post) from a blue collar, working class town, to a upper, upper-middle class destination, and there doesn’t appear to be as much tension (whether it would be good or bad) that once existed in Newburyport, MA.

Tourist Season

Friday afternoon I drive downtown. None of the usual places to park. Park off in sort of far away “la-la” land. I get to where I’m going late. The comment, with no prodding from me, “No place to park, tourist season.”

Yup, tourist season. The week before the Fourth of July. They are here like locusts.

They are easily spotted. Speak foreign language, often. Sort of cool. Come in clumps, often multigenerational. That’s fine. Baby carriages and looking lost, often the case. Older couples comfortable with each other, walking slowly, those are often my favorite.

Ok, at first I always seem to be overwhelmed by tourist season, and readily admit that am relieved when it lets up after Yankee Homecoming the first week in August, and then things get back to “normal” after Labor Day.

My attitude, like so many Newburyporters, is “I just want my city back.”

But Newburyport needs tourists. We need tourists for our local economy to thrive, so part of me says, “Whew, they are coming this year again, I hope they enjoy and, buy, buy, buy,” in our lovely and historic, seacoast New England city.

And, in my mind, the beauty and historic qualities of Newburyport are why so many tourists come. I would.

And the Newburyport Preservation Trust seems to agree. They are working with the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce to assess just how much historic preservation brings to our beautiful town economically speaking. I’d really and truly bet the ranch, that they would find out from the “assessment” that they would be doing together, that historic preservation is the root of our economic tourist attractiveness.

Newburyport From Another Perspective

A while ago a got an email from a gentleman called Shawn Gearin who has started a site called NBPTMA.com.

According to my email from Mr. Gearin, the site “covers the Newburyport experience from a blue collar perspective from 1950-1990.” In my mind, this would be welcomed perspective on Newburyport, MA on the World Wide Web.

Mr. Gearin’s desire is “to connect with people who remember Newburyport as she was during reconstruction, but prior to the current inflated home prices.”

The site is a work in progress and I hope Mr. Gearin preservers. We need more insight from people who know the history of Newburyport, and who have seen it change, evolve, whatever you would like to call it, over the years.

So far, my favorite part of the site is the marvelous photo album which is at the top right hand side of the site. You can either have a slide presentation, or see the photo album in its entirety. There are so many historic photographs that I have never seen, including one of the clam shacks, which I think is my favorite. So please, treat yourself and go take a look.

I am hoping that this would develop into another “treasure trove” of insight and information for those who love Newburyport, MA.

High Street Master Plan Passes

On Monday night, April 28, 2008, in the Newburyport City Council, the High Street Master Plan passed.

It passed 11-0. Not a peep from anyone. Everyone just sat there and then voted, “Ah,” another words, “yes.”

I expected at least one rant from Newburyport City Councilor Tom O’brien, having listened to his and former Newburyport City Councilor Erford Fowler’s very colorful rants the last time. But no, absolute silence.

So I figured it must be the first reading, and the rants and protests would come later on.

Well, of course I’m going to ask around and find out why this went so smoothly, of course.

And apparently, the High Street Master Plan–as it was read, the restoration of an historic roadway, was not an “Ordinance,” but an “Order.”

I’m still on a learning curve here. An “Ordinance” is a law, and “Order” is a directive, and only requires one reading.

So, “Voila,” the High Street Master Plan actually does pass 11-0. A minor miracle, in my book.

My first question is, can the mayor veto an “Order.” (I ask this question because the previous mayor vetoed the High Street Master Plan, go figure. See earlier entry on “Weird Bike Lane Politics.”) And the feeling that I am getting is Mayor Moak’s approach simply could be, not to fund the project in anyway. Thereby, very politically sidestepping the entire issue. Notice that there is not one mention of High Street, at least that I can find, in his proposed 2 million Capital Improvement Plan.

The only person who spoke in the Public Comments, was a Mom who was very concerned about the danger of the Newburyport High School students crossing High Street, when they get out of school. (And unfortunately this has been an ongoing dilemma, ever since the automobile was invented.)

And as I remember, and I’d have to look again, the compromise that “we” came to was, a “push light” at the corner of Toppans Lane and High Street, where the crosswalk is.

When I talked to the crossing guards when the Bike Lanes first went down, their response was that the only thing that slowed downed motorist around the High School on High Street, was the presence of a cop car. Other than that, people didn’t give a rip.

I mentioned this to one of my Newburyport City Councilors, and suggested somewhat flippantly, that maybe the city could leave an empty cop car, one that isn’t working so well, at the corner of Toppans Lane and High Street during peak get out of school hours.

And I don’t know whether or not they were kidding or not, but the response was, “good idea.”

The passing of the High Street Master Plan, one more milestone in the ongoing, now just about 13 years, High Street restoration saga.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

The View of the Wheelwright Property

Oh heretic that I am.

I drove up State Street from the Traffic Circle and took a brief gander (as I’ve been doing for a while, wondering what the heck it is going to look like) at the entrance to the Oak Hill Cemetery where Todd Freemont-Smith is building on the back of the Wheelwright property (see gobs of earlier posts, including the “Rape of the Ridge.”)

And you know what, I thought that the clearing of the woods and the view to the field in the back of the Ridge (which I think was deeded to the Essex County Greenbelt), was, yes, breathtaking. And I’m not being sarcastic here, or anything.

How about them weird apples.

That road to the Oak Hill Cemetery with it’s tangle of trees always seemed very spooky and uninviting to me. And (Whatever help me), I think that opening up that space makes it much more inviting, a whole lot less spooky, and might (heretic I go again) possibly make “upper” State Street a much more inviting “gateway” to the city.

Emails of protest and horror to the Newburyport Blog are unnecessary. I can already hear the very loud “howls of betrayal.”

What also struck me was what an unbelievably difficult hilly terrain that property has, and how difficult it would be to build anything. It’s one thing to see it on maps, it’s a whole different thing to see it “revealed” with all the trees cut down.

So I am actually curious (yes, can you believe it) as to what the project is actually going to look like.

I do have these two plans, dated March 2007. I don’t have anything more recent, but they would give at least an overall “picture” of the project.

Wh1-3_07.jpg

Overall plan, March 2007

Wh2_3-07.jpg

Detail of plan, March 2007

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

What is a High Street Plan

What exactly are High Street “plans?”

The original plans from MassHighway for High Street were 52 pages of detailed drawings.

The High Street Master plan is also (or I would imagine be somewhere around) 52 pages of detailed drawings.

When the original plans came back from MassHighway, the High Street Ad Hoc Committee that I was on (this would be the spring of 1999) was asked to “mark-up” the plans, another words write comments on the plans as feedback for the MassHighway engineers.

As I recall every page had “NO” written all over it in red pencil.

I don’t know how the Newburyport Planning Office marked up the High Street Master Plan, but I do remember that the plan itself was huge. Each page seemed huge to me (like 1.5 by 3 feet–that’s not exactly the exact size, and yes I could call the Newburyport Planning Office and ask, but you get the idea, the pages aren’t exactly puny).

And when the plan was put end to end, it seemed long enough to almost cover the back of the City Hall auditorium wall. I’m not exactly sure if that is exactly right, but we are talking long, really, really long.

And the plans are detailed. You can get an idea by pressing here, a page labeled “Kent and Johnson Street”. You can see that there are markings for detailed things like trees, where steps to houses are, whether a spot in front of a house has an iron or a wood fence, how long the fence would be, exactly where the grass is, where a house starts and the beginning of a house’s “foot print.”

All of this was and still is visually fascinating to me as an artist. I could appreciate the hours and hours of work that went into such a document/plan. Every inch had been measured. Every inch had been sometimes agonized over.

Having followed the process from the beginning, I realized when I saw the final High Street Master Plan, that it was truly a labor of love. And I was very moved and very thankful to all the people who helped create it.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Weird Bike Lane Politics

A little history on the weird Bike Lane politics. Oy Veh.

The High Street Master Plan was presented at a Public Hearing in 2004, to cheers, except for Tom O’Brien, who was at that time the President of the Newburyport City Council. The mayor (Mary Anne Clancy) was at that meeting. All seemed to be well. In fact, all seemed to be great.

(And as a btw, the High Street Master Plan calls for things like textured cross walks, that look like bricks, but are not, so the Fire, Police and DPW could navigate without any problem, brick sidewalks for all of High Street, and yes, trees, and other good stuff.)

As I recall the Newburyport Planning Office had urged the mayor to give the press, press releases before the bike lanes, (the first phase of the High Street Master Plan) went down, so that people would have some information, and not be totally surprised. It is my recollection, that that piece of civic information never made it to the press, and the bike lanes were a surprise to folks who weren’t following along, which turned out to be almost everyone in Newburyport, MA.

Massive confusion and a visceral dislike of the bike lanes followed (this is a vast understatement). The Newburyport City Council decided that it would be prudent to officially vote on the High Street Master Plan, which they did, and it passed.

Then the Mayor, Mary Anne Clancy, vetoed the plan, and there were not enough votes on the Newburyport City Council to override the mayor’s bike lane veto (you need a lot of votes for such things as overriding vetoes).

What a mess.

What a mess especially because the bike lanes were only partially done. For example, as I remember, there was no signage put up to explain to the bikers and drivers when the bike lanes would stop and when bikes and cars would share road space together.

The rounded painted corners look like parking spaces. They are not. If things had been finished, those areas would have been striped, for no parking, so that people could have proper “sight lines,” or in other words, be able to see traffic coming from either direction.

And of course the textured crosswalks never got done, to help slow down traffic further.

All of this, and other stuff, left us in Newburyport, MA, in “bike lane limbo.”

So I would imagine that the Newburyport Planning Office and the Newburyport City Council would dust off the High Street Master Plan, take a good look at it after 4 years now, and decide what to do next. And give the public, I am sure, all kinds of good and helpful information.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

High Street, a Little History

Let’s have a little chat. Let’s have a little chat about how in the world did we end up having a High Street Master Plan, and what about those wretched (for some) bike lanes.

To go back to the beginning, sort of. In January of 1995, the city of Newburyport, MA asked and then received a grant from the Massachusetts Highway Department to fix High Street. The original grant (all of this can be found on the High Street website under “Reference Documents.”) acknowledged that it would adhere to Federal and State “design requirements.”

What the “design requirements” ended up being (all of this being presented to the City of Newburyport, 3 years later, in 1998, on 52 detailed pages) was the removal of 77 trees, 3 traffic lights (one at Three Roads, one at the High School and a new one at High and State Street), and a whole lot of other things that people weren’t too crazy about.

The new stop light at High and State Street required that the street be widened and a number of feet be taken by right (I believe) from the Mobile Station at the corner of State and High, all the way down to somewhere around Fruit Street or lower. And a retaining wall to be put up, to hold up that part of the “Ridge.”

It took about a year to get people’s attention, about what was about to happen to High Street, and the residences, once they got the message, pretty much went berserk, and MassHighway finally backed down in the fall of 1999.

Long, long story, but the long and short of it, was that the residence wanted the street to be historically restored, and also wanted traffic to be slowed down without stoplights.

Years of research and public hearings later, a (beautiful, in my mind) High Street Master Plan was created in 2004. And to “calm” traffic (or make it go slower) one of the elements were the bike lanes.

And, it is my belief, that before the bike lanes went down, and there was just a yellow strip down the middle, with wide open spaces on either side, it was real easy to go down High Street at 50 miles an hour, and that was not uncommon.

It’s hard to go more than 40 miles an hour now, and often the speed is more like 30 miles an hour, which, except for around the schools, would be the speed limit.

So the bike lanes do appear to “calm” or slow down traffic. And they also do other things, like get people out of their cars to walk and bike. And it appears, at this point, that we would like a walkable and bikable community.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

High Street Master Plan and Bike Lanes

My.

I’ve always thought that The High Street Master Plan is inspirational, and quite frankly, a little bit a head of its time, with its emphasis on “green living,” walkable and bikable community, much less restoring High Street to its rightful glory.

But then again, a great many people disagreed with me about those bike lanes (yes, this is a vast understatement).

Full disclosure: Ever since February 1999, I’ve been working towards a High Street Master Plan, and was beyond joyous when the Newburyport Planning Office presented the High Street Master Plan in 2004 to an enthusiastic crowd. And befuddled beyond belief by the convoluted politics that followed, leaving us in “bike lane limbo.”

Do I want this inspirational plan to go forward? Yup, you bet I do. And am I extremely grateful that the Newburyport City Council has put this way up on their “to do” priority list? Yup, you bet I am.

Wow.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport