Crews hoist collapsed boathouse from Westport River

Building was owned by an Adamsville Trust and had come down in July

By Ted Hayes
Posted 10/1/24

More than two months after it collapsed into the Westport River, crews removed a derelict boathouse Thursday from behind the harbormaster’s office, winching it out ever so slowly with a large …

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Crews hoist collapsed boathouse from Westport River

Building was owned by an Adamsville Trust and had come down in July

Posted

More than two months after it collapsed into the Westport River, crews removed a derelict boathouse Thursday from behind the harbormaster’s office, winching it out ever so slowly with a large crane and then cutting it up for removal.

The building, owned by the Leach Family Trust out of Adamsville, collapsed into the river in July, dealing a minor glancing blow to a harbormaster’s skiff on the way down. The structure had been vacant for years, and was one of three buildings owned by the trust, which also owns the adjacent Wharf House and the former Leach & Son Marina.

The building’s removal, by Baxter Crane and Rigging out of West Yarmouth, was paid for by the owners, who worked with building official Ralph Souza to get it out.

Town officials initially had trouble reaching anyone from the trust to arrange for its removal, and members of the historical commission said at a meeting in early August that Westport might have to file an emergency demolition permit it the town’s efforts to contact the trust didn’t bear fruit. But building official Ralph Souza was able to reach trust officials and arrange for them to handle the removal.

Though two adjacent buildings owned by the trust — the Wharf House and Leach & Sons Marina — are historic, there does not appear to “any real significance” to the building that collapsed, commission chairman Garrett Stuck said at a meeting in early August.

Still, “it’s really a shame that those buildings have been let go for so long,” commission member Catherine Reppert said. “They’re incredibly critical to the historic nature of the point ... maybe not that building (that collapsed) per se, but the collection of buildings.”

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