Less than 24 hours after a federal judge shot down an injunction request and lawsuit challenging the project, construction crews this morning began razing the historic Pearce-Haskell House and former Moose Lodge, clearing the site to make way for a planned park, sculpture garden and additional parking places sought by the heads of the Cape Ann Museum.
By 2 p.m. today, the historic but largely decrepit building on Pleasant Street and adjacent to Gloucester's City Hall had been reduced to a large pile of rubble above its foundation.
The demolitionc comes a day after a federal judge in Boston denied an injunction request by well-known local preservationist Stevan Goldin, who sought to block what he called the destruction of one of the city's "symphonies in wood."And it comes just days after officials with the Cape Ann Historical Association, which owns the Cape Ann Museum across Pleasant Street from the site, had unveiled plans to accelerate the project, which had gained other city approvals.
"We're trying to get this built and finished prior to the cold weather," J.J. Bell, vice chairman of the museum board, had told the Times on Monday, adding that work and demolition of the two-centuries-old building was likely to start "this week." The Cape Ann Historical Association bought the property in 2001 from the Moose lodge for $535,000; the demolition and park project has been pegged to cost some $350,000.
Construction crews had placed a chain-link fence around the property on Monday, heavy equipment began tearing away at the City Hall site of the building this morning, and the building was reduced to a very large mound of debris.
The sight of the demolition work, carried out by R.B. Strong Inc. excavation of Gloucester, was welcomed by both a Pleasant Street neighbor and a passerby who stopped to watch the project unfold.
Stephen Dexter, president of the Carol K. Steele Insurance Company, which sits next door to the construction site, said it was time for the building, abandoned since the moose left it a few years ago, to come down.
"(Vacant buildings) don't send a good message," he said.
Pippy Giuliano, a pedestrian who was viewing the scene, added that she's happy the project will create new open space, and said the small park should benefit the museum and be attractive to the city's visitors.
"I'm delighted," she said.
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