It’s spring on Castle Hill on the Crane Estate which means the doors of the Great House will soon be open again. Visitors are always welcome at Castle Hill, but for the last three months the big house at the top of the hill has been closed and quiet. But now, as the days get longer and spring flowers open their buds, so too, the front doors of the Great House will open again to welcome visitors. Starting April 13, the Great House will open for visitors on weekends from 10 am to 4 pm. (The Great House remains closed on weekdays until Memorial Day, May 27.) Anyone who has purchased an entry ticket for Castle Hill is welcome to enjoy the first floor of the grand home, the former summer residence of the Crane family from Chicago. The fully furnished library, dining room, and entry hall offer a taste of the life of the ultra-wealthy in the 1920s. Those who wish to explore further are invited to join one of three guided tours offered throughout the day:
Guest of the Cranes takes guests back to 1929 when the Great House was new. Costumed servants greet arriving guests and show them family suites and guest rooms.
Cupola with a View interprets the architecture and surrounding land. Ending on the roof, this popular tour treats guests to spectacular 360-degree views.
Behind the Scenes highlights the inner workings and the hidden corners of the 59-room mansion with special focus on technological systems and servant life.
Additional tours will be added after May 27 when the Great House will open 6 days a week (closed on Mondays).
The gift shop (housed in a former guest room suite) offers a wide range of gifts and mementos. Visitors are encouraged to explore the gardens and grounds, and even bring a picnic lunch to enjoy while gazing out over the New England coastline from Gloucester to Maine. It may be right around the corner in Ipswich, but it feels like a world away!
CONTEST TIME!!! To enter: Follow @thirstyseagull and @patdsphotos on Instantagram. Share this post. Tag four friends. Every friend you tag over four gets you an additional entry into the drawing which we will pull on Sundays livestream! @goodmorninggloucester @pdalpiaz @gmgjim @realtor_katelyn Winner will receive a five pack of Gloucester Chart Coozies, a pick of any in stock cap at 44 Main and a small glass print
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Hi All, This was actually a long-awaited happy day! The Norway Maples (an invasive species) were dying one by one and dropping limbs plus their exposed roots had become a safety hazard during our summer concert series. Two years ago the Meetinghouse Foundation received a CPA grant to completely restore the green with new disease-resistant Elms, a new lawn with a grid underneath for event parking, new walkways for safe access, soft uplighting on the trees, restored cast-iron tubular fencing between the granite pillars and a sprinkler/irrigation system to sustain the lawn and the Elms. This fall we received a matching grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, so the work could proceed this spring. The landscape designer and project manager is Doug Cook, principal of the firm Lansdesign on Main Street. Completion is due before the first Music on Meetinghouse Green concert on July 5th…a day we will really celebrate with the whole community. We will be planting Princeton Elms, which are highly disease-resistant, grow quickly and will form a beautiful cathedral-like canopy when mature, as shown in the old photos on the GMG page. We have about $25K left to raise and people may give an Elm in honor of, or in memory of somebody for $3K. There will be a bronze plaque for all the donors and supporting organizations.
Joey, Doug Cook and I would be happy to join you in a GMG Podcast to share more about the project! We are deeply grateful to the Community Preservation Act Committee for their support of this project and for the recent Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant. The restored greed will be a treasure for the whole downtown community to enjoy…in safety.
The Princeton Elms will be between 14-16′ tall when first planted, but Doug Cook says that they will grow fast. This is one of the reasons we are installing an irrigation system for them along with a sprinkler for the lawn. The trees will look young for the first few years, but that is also beautiful.
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Calling all nurses! Is it time for a refreshing change in your nursing career?
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Photo series journaling the impact from the 2023-24 winter storms and tides. Much of the wall and walkway look great.
The packed soil walkway atop the Long Beach seawall shows a loss of 1″ to 6″ vertical height, scraped for stretches along most of the wall (and more than a foot high loss by the old hotel). There are new and old potholes and cracks in the concrete sections beneath the handrail, and a single rapidly enlarging sinkhole at the footbridge end which is ready for a caution cone or barrel.
photo series: year vs. year comparisons
pinch and zoom to enlarge; right click for description
2024 seawall status
Jan 27 – levitated rockerJan 27March 31much of it looks greatMarch 12 March 29March 2024
2022 vs. 2024
There are a few repeat vulnerable spots that have not grown rapidly (unlike the one in the photo block above).
202220242018 – repeat spot
2018-2024. How the Same spot changed over 5+ years
After a trio of March storms in 2018, the seawall pathway collapsed in two sections, revealing gaping chasms beneath (later filled). Fissures, cracks and seasonal pothole wear and tear were numerous. Thanks to immediate major repairs, the hollow underbelly sections were filled and packed down and the walkway widened pretty much the entire seawall. Rip rap boulders were shuffled into temporary pyres as extra wall support on the beach side.
photo caption: Same spot. Unlike the pathway which changed significantly, find the railing post to note the rough concrete chunk jutting out that has not changed.
20182018 after repairs2022 (see photo pair below)2024
Detail of the 2022 dislodged piece before/after
Jan. 20, 2022October 1, 2022
In 2019 major support was completed
In 2019, hundreds of tons of boulders were added strategically, and later an impressive quantity of sand. Unsurprisingly the sand was devoured by tides and storms–even on the very day it was deposited, swept straight away. The rip rap–mostly unchanged–and new walkway have held.
Nov. 7, 2019Nov. 7, 2019Feb. 9, 2019Feb. 24, 2019Nov. 7, 2019Oct. 29, 2019 – sand riverOct. 30, 2019 before a high tideOct. 30, 2019 after2019 Nov. 3
Seawall corner by the footbridge before 2018 vs. 2019 after added boulders
Boulder pile 2019 still here 2024. The big rocks work.
20172018201920202024
Aftermath of trio of 2018 storm damage
Before the 2018 winter storm trio, people discussed the pros and cons about raising the height of the seawall, removing it, and so on. After the major upgrades in 2018 and 2019, a town committee was established to study future options for the Long Beach cottages and seawall which wrapped up March 2022.
Rockport DPW does annual maintenance. I can’t find updated plans and diagrams about the scope of the proposed next phase of the Long Beach seawall project, but will add them here if I do. Based on the estimated 2.8M award reported in the FEMA press announcement May 4, 2023 to be combined with the town’s match of 1.3M, perhaps it was solely repair and maintenance, and spots that had not been addressed in 2018 and 2019. It’s a long seawall! The 2020 schematic labels 350 feet of wall from roughly #58-#70 as damaged. After the path was tamped down, the bowing was visible.
After this winter, there are new additions (e.g. the vertical loss on the path and that sinkhole). That 2023 press release described a deeper wall section slated for reinforcement, but it doesn’t indicate how long or diagram where. It describes new stairs on the Gloucester side relocated within Rockport. I believe that the replacement stairs installed after the 2018 storm damage were temporary (still standing).
Rockport DPW response is swift and sure. Other than the sand, the infrastructure repairs and maintenance are strong and steady and coordinated with state and federal assistance.
throwback July 14, 2017: piece about Long Beach seasons of sand shifting and seawall. 2012 was a bad year for sand loss.It’s come back and gone again since.
Verga Administration Awards ARPA Funds to Wellspring for Family Shelter and Housing Opportunities
Mayor Greg Verga is proud to announce the award of $120,170 to Wellspring House, one of eight community organizations receiving Covid Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, to help double the size of Wellspring’s family shelter capacity and to make improvements to current family units located in central Gloucester.
The City of Gloucester was awarded $23 million under the American Rescue Plan Act’s local funding provisions and has been distributing these funds to several sectors within the community. Mayor Verga recently announced the appropriation of $870,170 of Covid Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, also known as ARPA funds, to be distributed to 8 community organizations. This funding will be used to support their critical missions within our community and to aid in their work to assist in the City’s recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Wellspring House has been instrumental in bridging the gap for those experiencing challenging times and providing an opportunity for families to find stable and safe housing,” said Mayor Greg Verga. “Whether it was during the COVID-19 pandemic or in the months following, Wellspring has provided critical services and support to those in need, including innovative job training and critical housing.”
After substantial public input and a careful application process, Wellspring House was awarded funds to support families who are experiencing the crisis of homelessness and housing insecurity by doubling the number of family units through their Ready to Rent Program. Pre-existing units are being improved with new furnishings and renovations in partnership with Koo de Kir Architectural Interiors led by Gloucester resident, Kristine Irving.
Melissa Dimond, Wellspring’s President and Executive Director said, ”Wellspring is deeply grateful to the City of Gloucester for awarding these funds to help us better respond to the housing insecurity crisis in our community. These critical dollars will help fuel Wellspring’s Ready to Rent Program that will bring 5 new apartments into the family shelter inventory in Gloucester. Through our work with families for nearly 43 years, Wellspring understands that once housing is stable, parents can begin the process of planning for their futures. Wellspring provides the coaching and access to job training and education to help parents find good paying jobs and financial security.”
In addition to this nearly $900,000 for community organizations, Mayor Verga has also strategically allocated $13 million to support critical infrastructure upgrades, $1.5 million to the City of Gloucester’s Affordable Housing Trust, and $1.5 million to fund several economic development initiatives.
To learn more about the City of Gloucester’s ARPA funds, including appropriations and expenditures, go to arpa.gloucester-ma.gov.
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Good Morning Gloucester 