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Joan and I have always enjoyed the work that is done by the Cotuit Center for the Arts on Cape Cod. David Kuehn, the Cotuit Executive Director, does a great job of enthusiastically keeping a full plate of art experiences of every type available for the community.
In 2018, the opportunity arose to acquire property adjacent to the Arts Center. Through careful planning and generous support, that property was acquired to fulfill a vision of expanding the footprint and mission of Cotuit Center for the Arts.
The property housed a gas station and bakery. It was envisioned that the gas station would be converted to a ceramics studio. The bakery and its associated smaller buildings, underground tanks and pumps needed to be demolished and removed as they were situated in the new proposed entrance to the Center.
At a performance of “Love Letters” at the Cotuit Center last year, we had reserved a block of ten seats to invite friends and coworkers to enjoy the work of our good friend, Dr. Waldo Fielding, and his long-time stage partner, Pam McArdle. For years they have generously donated their touching performance for the benefit of the Arts Center. Needless to say, they once again filled the theatre for their event.
After the show, David Kuehn approached me, as the Center’s “resident demolition expert”, to see if I could develop estimates as to the cost of demolition to help budget for total acquisition costs of the new property.
Perhaps in the afterglow of Waldo and Pam’s wonderful performance, Joan and I offered to donate the services of Costello Dismantling Co. to help in the acquisition effort.
The purchase of the property was realized soon after and the planning and permitting phase began with the combined effort of the Cotuit staff, volunteers and the Costello team.
A short video memorializes some of the demolition effort: Bakery Demolition.
It was a successful project and we were happy to contribute in our small way to the great future of Cotuit Center for the Arts.
Special thanks to our crew, Hal Monsini, Sandi Cloutier, Tom Reed, Billy Jones, Sean Rae, Jeff Connors and Ron Cunningham for a great job!
(Story by Dan Costello, President)
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