Pelham landmark to be demolished, farewell party planned

Salem Editor — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:40:00 GMT

It is considered by some to be a historic landmark, a reminder of a once-thriving transportation system. But soon, the old trolley barn in Pelham’s town center will be torn down.

It’s not going to be demolished, however, without a farewell.

St. Patrick’s Parish, which owns the building, is holding a movie night fundraiser – dubbed the “Trolley Barn’s Last Hurrah” – to say goodbye to the building and raise money to remove it.

“It’s a chapter in history that will be closed,” said Selectman William McDevitt, who is disappointed the building will be demolished but understands why it must come down.

The white brick building, according to Bill Scanzani, a member of the church’s capital improvement committee, is suffering from structural problems, including a wall that is separating from the roof. The building is about 106 years old.

About two years ago, an engineering review of church property determined that it would cost about $1.5 million to fix the trolley building, according to the Rev. Robert Guillemette, the church’s pastor. The parish doesn’t have the money to save it, he said.

The building, known as St. Patrick’s Hall, had been used by the church’s parochial school for physical education classes and was made available to outside groups for use. But the Diocese of Manchester, concerned about safety and liability, closed the building.

Although the building is commonly referred to today as the trolley barn, it is not the barn’s entire original structure. The car house portion was razed during World War II.

The building that stands today is actually the barn’s power station, according to McDevitt. A 50,000-gallon water tank that supplied water for steam-powered generators once stood next to it.

The building is slated to be demolished in July at a cost of roughly $40,000. McDevitt is disappointed that a part of the town’s history will be lost.

“That is a remnant of what once was a thriving transportation system that ran through Southern New Hampshire,” he said.

According to the book, “Reflections,” a pictorial history of Pelham, the advent of mass transportation around the beginning of the 20th century brought trolley cars into small towns in the area, including Pelham, Hudson and Salem.

Electric cars transported workers to textile mills and shoe shops in Nashua and in the Massachusetts cities of Lowell and Haverhill.

To encourage people to travel on weekends, trolley car owners built amusement parks at Canobie Lake in Salem and Glen Forest in Methuen, Mass., according to Reflections.

Eventually, however, trolley routes were abandoned as automobile use became more prevalent during the 1920s.

Seven years ago, a local Boy Scout established a plaque outside the trolley barn to honor the memory of six people who died and 40 people who were injured when two trolley cars collided in Pelham in 1903.

That plaque will be saved when the building is demolished, Scanzani said.

Trolley Barn’s Last Hurrah St. Patrick’s Parish is inviting the public to a Movie Night to say “farewell” to this historic landmark. The movie “Monsters, Inc.” will be shown on the wall of the old trolley barn on Wednesday, July 2. Gates open at 7 p.m., and the movie starts at 8:30 p.m. Bring blankets and lawn chairs.

Popcorn, candy, other snacks, soda and water will be sold. And there will be a chance to win a one-of-a-kind “Monster’s Inc.” door. Tickets cost $10 per car. Cars will be parked in the lower lots at the church. Ticket proceeds will be used toward the building’s demolition.

Pelham is ‘Our Town’ – School board member joins cast of PHS play

Salem Editor — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:33:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

In the early 1970s, Eleanor Burton was preparing to take the stage in a local production of the play “Our Town.”
She had memorized her lines for the role of Mrs. Gibbs. But because the cast couldn’t keep anyone to perform the heavy role of the stage manager – the show’s narrator – the production never got off the ground.

“Everyone who started, for one reason or another, just dropped the role,” recalled Burton, now a Pelham School Board member. “We were never able to pull it together.”

Now, Burton is getting her chance to finally appear in “Our Town,” albeit in a much smaller role. The show will be performed by Pelham High School’s drama club.

Burton will say one line as the character known as the lady in the balcony.

Written by Thornton Wilder, this story of love, life and death takes place in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, and begins in 1901.

“I suppose the play is typical of what small communities were like during that era,” Burton said.

George Gibbs, played by Jon Mirabito, marries his neighbor and schoolmate, Emily Webb, played by Brandee Peglow.

“It’s entertaining,” said freshman Colin Barry who plays Emily’s father. “It has everything in it – happiness, sadness, there’s humor.”

Peglow, along with Michelle Burke, who plays Mrs. Gibbs, and another girl saw a performance of “Our Town” in Dracut, Mass., two years ago.

“I was absolutely floored,” said Burke during a recent rehearsal. “It was really good.”

Because this show was going to be the last one for seniors, their desire to perform “Our Town” was a big factor when selecting which show to produce, said teacher Wendy Dorval, the club’s advisor.

“This is their last year,” Dorval said. “What they wanted to do had a lot of weight.”

While attending a fundraiser at the school, Burton, who loyally attends drama club shows, asked Dorval what the club’s next production was going to be.

After learning that Burton had once prepared for a production of “Our Town” that never took stage, Dorval decided to invite Burton to participate in the school’s production.

For years, Burton and the late Sandra Corbin, who was going to play Mrs. Webb in the 1970s, occasionally quoted lines from the show during conversations.

And Burton and Corbin, the longtime secretary at Memorial School, also exchanged heliotrope plants, plants that the play makes reference to.

“I loved doing it,” said Burton of participating three decades ago. “I was disappointed we never did it.”
“Our Town” has few props, a good amount of pantomime, and sound effects – allowing audience members to use their imagination.

But its themes are universal, said student Bethany Murphy, who plays the stage manager.

“Pretty much everyone can relate to the show in some way,” she said.

This show is different in another sense. Knowing that “Our Town,” a large-cast production, would be a challenge to produce, direct and cast, Dorval enlisted the help of two graduates of San Diego State University’s theater program.

“I wouldn’t have attempted this play without their expertise,” Dorval said. “They were invaluable.”

Kira Walz said she and Alison Kerrigan sought to attract kids new to theater and refine the talents of the cast.
Kerrigan hopes being on stage will hope boost the students’ self-confidence.

Participating in the show is giving students who love being on stage another opportunity to showcase their talent.

“We worked very hard on it,” said freshman Ashley Scalia, who plays the milkman. “We want people to see it and enjoy it and see the effort we put into it.”

Pelham News : arts

Pelham landmark to be demolished, farewell party planned

Pelham is ‘Our Town’ – School board member joins cast of PHS play