SWAMPSCOTT — Residents from Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem, and Nahant came together Thursday night for an informational meeting about saving the General Glover Farmhouse at 299 Salem St. in Vinnin Sq.
The event was led by Swampscott Historical Chair Nancy Schultz and Glover’s Marblehead Regiment members Larry Sands, Seamus Daly, and Bob Erbetta, who came dressed in their 18th-century regiment uniforms.
A demolition request was sent and approved by both Marblehead and Swampscott earlier this year to replace the house once owned by the Revolutionary War figure with a new 140-unit housing complex called “Glover Residences.” Schultz was then notified due to the property’s historical background. The Commission was able to impose a nine-month demolition delay in April. However, as of Thursday, that delay has only 66 days remaining. The Athanas family currently owns the property, and property developer Leggat McCall is scheduled to take over control on January 20 when the delay ends, and demolition ensues. Schultz shared a video of the October 6 demolition of the Samuel Pitman house to inspire attendees not to let the Glover Farmhouse share the same fate.
Sands recapped the life of John Glover, including the direct impact he and his regiment had on Revolutionary War events such as the Evacuation of Long Island, the Battle of Pell’s Point, and the Crossing of the Delaware.
“Two of the three parts of Washington’s army didn’t make it across the Delaware,” Sands explained. “The only group that made it were the ones Glover’s Regiment led across.”
Schultz explained the number of preservation options the Commission has considered, including keeping the house in place, integrating it into the new development’s site, moving it to another location, or disassembling and storing it until a new location could be found.
Attendees suggested additional alternatives, such as eminent domain or the city buying the property outright. However, Swampscott Select Board member and liaison to the Glover Farmhouse Preservation Effort Doug Thompson suggested that disassembly and storage might be the best outcome to target due to time restraints and a lack of negotiating leverage.
“I hate to give up on the possibility of preserving it in place, but I also want to be a realist,” Thompson said. “I wanna make sure people’s energy and resources are directed in a way that at minimum the house is preserved through disassembly and rebuilding… Trying to literally stop the project is not something that I’m going to be affiliated with, but there are ways in which we can accomplish the goals that the project is trying to address as well as executing out the historic preservation.”
Thompson discussed a current realistic goal to raise $100,000 to keep the preservation hopes alive with the attendees. However, Thompson acknowledged that amount is simply a “drop in the bucket.” General Glover Hestia tree ornaments are available through the Swampscott Historical Society for $25. In addition, donations can be made at the preservation effort’s new website, www.savetheglover.org. The Swampscott Historical Society President Molly Conner ended the event, emphasizing that she feels the property has a scope of historical significance beyond just the towns it resides in.
“We’re in full support of this project and behind Nancy 100%,” Conner said. “It’s such an important site to Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, and The United States of America.”
