Salem City Hall finally has an elevator! We saw the elevator under construction when the Commission attended Mayor Driscoll’s proclamation of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this past summer.
Here is the ceremony:
And here is a walkthrough of the new elevator. Notice that there are two elevator doors, as you sometimes see in hospitals; one door covers the ground floor from the sidewalk while the other is at the level of the existing ground floor at City Hall.
This is “The Whirlybird”, the old chairlift on the front staircase into the Council Chambers:
Beth Rennard, our city solicitor, used this lift every day.
She won’t miss it.
Salem City Hall finally has an elevator! We saw the elevator under construction when the Commission attended Mayor Driscoll’s proclamation of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this past summer.
Here is the ceremony:
And here is a walkthrough of the new elevator. Notice that there are two elevator doors, as you sometimes see in hospitals; one door covers the ground floor from the sidewalk while the other is at the level of the existing ground floor at City Hall.
This is “The Whirlybird”, the old chairlift on the front staircase into the Council Chambers:
Beth Rennard, our city solicitor, used this lift every day.
She won’t miss it.
Salem City Hall finally has an elevator! We saw the elevator under construction when the Commission attended Mayor Driscoll’s proclamation of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this past summer.
Here is the ceremony:
And here is a walkthrough of the new elevator. Notice that there are two elevator doors, as you sometimes see in hospitals; one door covers the ground floor from the sidewalk while the other is at the level of the existing ground floor at City Hall.
This is “The Whirlybird”, the old chairlift on the front staircase into the Council Chambers:
Beth Rennard, our city solicitor, used this lift every day.
She won’t miss it.
Reported at Salem Patch, the restaurant at the Jail, The Great Escape, will open Monday.
When I saw this in the open house, I had wondered if this would be the restaurant. I seem to have guessed right.
Despite the guy from Northfields and the associated controversy over the green space, a restaurant operator came through after all.
I’m not sure how they’ll do long-term, and I don’t know if I’ll afford to eat there myself, but I wish them luck. Hats off to New Boston for their tenacity in seeing this through.
Reported at Salem Patch, the restaurant at the Jail, The Great Escape, will open Monday.
When I saw this in the open house, I had wondered if this would be the restaurant. I seem to have guessed right.
Despite the guy from Northfields and the associated controversy over the green space, a restaurant operator came through after all.
I’m not sure how they’ll do long-term, and I don’t know if I’ll afford to eat there myself, but I wish them luck. Hats off to New Boston for their tenacity in seeing this through.
I got this postcard in the mail over the weekend. Governor Patrick signed the legislation Wednesday that made Salem State a university. The bill had passed a week before the signing so there was enough time to get the cards out.
I got this postcard in the mail over the weekend. Governor Patrick signed the legislation Wednesday that made Salem State a university. The bill had passed a week before the signing so there was enough time to get the cards out.
I have recently completed 3 years of blogging. By tradition, I have a picture of my mom, Jeannette. This year, I found pictures of her cat Frisky, her most recent and last pet. She is minding Mom’s motorized scooter; Scooters like hers are now commonplace but this was really something in her day that helped her independence.
Another Frisky picture:
She’s with me, her “daddy”. I could not leave the house without her at my ankles. (“DADDY GOES! DO NOT WANT!”) When I did leave, she would tell Mom endlessly and at length in many words, “PAPA GONE!” (And then, coming home, she would see me—and totally ignore me! “NOT TALKING! YOU WENT OUT”) It’s been 16 years and I miss them both.
My past year’s blogging saw an old Salem blogging duo go away, and a new one emerge. A dear friend of ours passed on. I saw a lot of rancor and strife, no small amount from myself.
We saw the design for a new Salem Depot go forward, and I also saw blogging burnout. I’m still fighting that—if it were not for SATV and my work on the Commission I would be lost..
My apartment was rearranged when a new elevator was built in my building this past year. It still isn’t open yet but hopefully soon…
Last year I missed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Salem Jail. The ribboncutting was yesterday. I missed that too. But I did go to the open house!
To another year of blogging!
I have recently completed 3 years of blogging. By tradition, I have a picture of my mom, Jeannette. This year, I found pictures of her cat Frisky, her most recent and last pet. She is minding Mom’s motorized scooter; Scooters like hers are now commonplace but this was really something in her day that helped her independence.
Another Frisky picture:
She’s with me, her “daddy”. I could not leave the house without her at my ankles. (“DADDY GOES! DO NOT WANT!”) When I did leave, she would tell Mom endlessly and at length in many words, “PAPA GONE!” (And then, coming home, she would see me—and totally ignore me! “NOT TALKING! YOU WENT OUT”) It’s been 16 years and I miss them both.
My past year’s blogging saw an old Salem blogging duo go away, and a new one emerge. A dear friend of ours passed on. I saw a lot of rancor and strife, no small amount from myself.
We saw the design for a new Salem Depot go forward, and I also saw blogging burnout. I’m still fighting that—if it were not for SATV and my work on the Commission I would be lost..
My apartment was rearranged when a new elevator was built in my building this past year. It still isn’t open yet but hopefully soon…
Last year I missed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Salem Jail. The ribboncutting was yesterday. I missed that too. But I did go to the open house!
To another year of blogging!
As promised, the barbed-wire fencing around the Salem Jail has finally been removed! (A second, inner wall, was partially dismantled when the Jail was closed and demolished when the renovation began.) In other news, the new courthouse…
There was never a time during the Salem Jail’s existence that people would be waiting to get in to the Jail, but it happened yesterday during a scheduled open house. There were about 30-50 people in line at any one moment and about an equal numbe…
Proponents of a parking lot for the Salem Jail green space all say nearly the same thing: “It’s a dinky little space near cars and traffic! Why do you want it green?†Indeed it doesn’t look like much now, littered by constructi…
Pictures from last week’s Annual Meeting
Bridge St. reconstruction starts today. There’ll be an informational meeting at the Carlton School tomorrow night at 7. I won’t make that meeting. The neighborhood is no stranger to construction projects like the Veterans Riverway and the Veterans Memorial bridge, and this project is the end of an overall plan spanning over 30 years.
This Salem News article has the usual cynical commentariat about flagmen, corrupt officials and lazy workers. Yawn. I love how there are always magical private sector pixies about that would finish projects instantly if we only stood back and let them. I seem to recall, though, reading over the years of private sector, excuse me, Private Sector contractors getting paid by the day and padding projects.
My colleague Charlie will bear it worse than I will since I live a good distance south of the construction.
(For such a “tiny insignificant greenspaceâ€, it’s remarkable just how much it insulates me from most traffic, especially since I’m just feet away from moving cars on the Ash St. side of my parking lot.)
I wandered about downtown for Salem So Sweet 2010’s ice sculptures. This the one outside Cornerstone. But, oddly, my favorite was a new sculpture outside Tavern in the Square: It’s commercial and not at all whimsical but I like it.&…
We’re seeing the end of winter. And ready to turn the page to spring, no doubt.
Senior Tea at Brookhouse Mel Simons.
Pols have a chat. John Keenan, Kim Driscoll, John Tierney and Dan Brinsky, representing Senator Berry. Mayor Driscoll and Vice Chair Sosnowski wait for their turn to speak. Pat Sosnowski greets Congressman Tierney. Also looking o…
The Salem News alerts us to a bill recently filed by a state senator that could keep images like the one I took of the 2007 Haunted Happenings Parade above, off this website and virtually anywhere else. Quoting the News: You’ll see that reality…
Despite the fears of some that the Jail project was stalled, the renovations are moving apace. The old concrete stairwells in the main building have been demolished. The building is being cleaned: It already looks better!
