01907 Summer 2018

PHOTOS BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Public Works Director Gino Cresta, above, surveys the inside of the building and talks about restoration projects that are needed for the pier,
top right, the water-stained ceiling on the third floor, and storm damage to the exterior siding.
The town owns the Fish House, but
has leased the second floor to the Swampscott
Yacht Club, which is responsible for
interior renovations, since 1933. The third
floor is home to the town’s sailing program.
Cresta said the town is going out to bid
for a new roof this month – the current
roof is 18 years old and leaks. The project,
expected to cost $90,000, could including
replacing the widow’s walk railing,
repairing balcony posts and restoring the
balustrade at the high roof and balcony.
Wood shingles on the back of the
building came off in the March 3 Nor’easter,
which also gutted the harbormaster’s
locker. There's also evidence of rot on the
third floor ceilings.
Larry Sweazy, vice-commodore of the
Swampscott Yacht Club, is one of the
driving forces behind a local grassroots
effort, "Save the Fish House." As the
March storms pounded the Fish House, he
became concerned about the facility and
decided to become involved.
“I was so afraid this building was going
to go down the path of other old buildings
(in town),” Sweazy said. “Swampscott
is becoming condo alley. I feared that it
would be torn down and become four
condos and a bad restaurant.”
If someone came for the Fish House
with a wrecking ball, people would be out
in front with signs protesting, said Sweazy.
The Yacht Club spent $85,000 for construction
of a back porch in 2011, $16,000
on repairs in 2017, and plans to spend
another $7,000 to repair the deck.
He’s hooked up with the Essex County
Community Foundation about setting up
a fund for repairs to the Fish House. And
the town hopes to secure Federal Emergency
Management Agency funding to
repair the storm damage.
“It’s an ocean community and how do
you save one of the precious things that
makes this community what it is, not just
a drive-through between Marblehead and
Salem,” Sweazy said.
SUMMER 2018 | 17