Rockport historical panel approves new church doors on Broadway and sends two Main Street area projects to December hearings

Rockport's Historical Commission, the volunteer board that reviews changes to buildings in the town's historic districts, approved three projects on Oct. 22, including new front doors already installed at St. Joachim Church on Broadway, and sent two larger requests to public hearings on Dec. 3.

What happened

• The commission granted certificates of appropriateness, its sign off that a change fits the district, for a garden shed on Mount Pleasant Street, a window change on Main Street and the new mahogany doors at St. Joachim Church, 56 Broadway.
• A request to restore two attic windows on a Hale Street house and a plan for a two story addition and rebuilt chimney on Main Street both go to public hearings on Dec. 3. Abutters will get notices.
• The Hale Street review turned up a problem: the chair said the building was not built the way the commission approved it in 2018.
• The owners of the fire damaged building on School Street and their insurance company are hiring a structural engineer and want to keep the building, the commission heard.
• Because the fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving, the commission moved that meeting to Dec. 3. Its next regular meeting is Nov. 5.

Hale Street: two windows, and a 2018 question

The new owner of the top unit in a Hale Street house asked to put back two small windows in the gable, the triangle under the roof peak on the side of the house. The windows were there until a 2017 to 2018 renovation removed them. He counted shingle courses on the town assessor's 2017 photo to get the original size. He asked to place the two windows side by side and centered, because the inside was rebuilt and one original window spot would now be in a shower. Paired gable windows are common in the district, he said.

Chair Kate Johns said the application brought something else to light. The 2018 approved plans for that side of the house show three windows on each lower floor, lined up under the gable. The house as built has two. Members noted that a violation stays with the property, not the owner, and does not expire. The owner said the approved plan would have added windows that were never there before, and that his request brings the wall closer to how it looked originally. He said holding a later owner to a 10 year old violation would be a hardship.

The commission called the application a nice one and voted 4 to 0, from the meeting video, to send it to a public hearing on Dec. 3.

Main Street addition and chimney

The owner of a Main Street house, who said he is a builder, presented plans for a two story addition on the side for a bedroom, a bathroom and a mudroom, plus a one story sunroom at the back. He said it was the family's third try at the project. The house's center chimney is failing, he said: it sits on cedar posts in the basement that are giving way, and the brick in the attic is cracking. The plan takes the chimney down to the first floor and rebuilds a full brick chimney above the roof on a platform in the attic.

Johns said the addition looks fine from the street but very large from the side, and asked the owner and his architect to break up the roof line so the addition does not compete with the original house. She also asked for more even window placement and a full size window in the bathroom. Another member asked about the side door, the small window above it and a porch and door casing with more detail, closer to the front door surround. The owner said the roof is a simple layover that avoids taking apart the original timber frame, and that the plans use Brosco wood windows on the visible sides to match the house. The revised plans on screen were dated Sept. 24, 2026.

The vote to move the project to a public hearing on Dec. 3 was 4 to 0, from the meeting video. Johns asked for any revisions as soon as possible.

Three approvals

• Mount Pleasant Street garden shed. The owners were away but sent revised drawings dated Sept. 24, 2026 that the chair said met everything the commission asked for. Approved 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Main Street window. An owner asked to replace two windows with one in a spot the chair called minimally visible. Members said it looks better. Approved 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• St. Joachim Church doors. The parish replaced peeling, rotting front doors with custom solid mahogany doors that keep the six panel layout and add glass inserts. The work was already done when the commission sent a letter. The pastor said the parish did not know the church was in the historic district, that two donors paid the $40,000 cost and that the new doors open out without a bolt, which is safer. Johns thanked the church for coming in and asked that future changes come to the commission first. The certificate was approved; three members were heard voting yes on the recording.

South Street: more information needed

A South Street owner asked to replace windows in a small rear house where a tenant lives. The work is part of a weatherization program. The paperwork she sent was the same as before, and the chair said the commission cannot approve a window without knowing what it is. She suggested picking a window from the list of previously approved brands on the commission's web page, or getting the specifications from the contractor. The owner also needs to sign a form to extend her application's deadline. The hearing was continued to Nov. 5, 4 to 0, from the meeting video.

Commission business

• Historical markers. The request for proposals for the $30,000 marker project, funded by the Community Preservation Committee, has not gone out. The commission is waiting on the Department of Public Works and the Select Board office.
• Preservation consultant. Skelly Preservation Services will visit Nov. 13, walk around town and give a presentation with questions in the Annex. The session will be posted as a public meeting. The commission heard that the consultant worked at the Massachusetts Historical Commission for about 25 years.
• Town counsel. A one hour Zoom session with town counsel is set for Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. Members were asked to send questions. Unapproved alterations are on the list.
• Blacksmith shop. An Oct. 7 email said the project has the chimney measurements and will get back to the commission. The project is waiting on grant money.
• School Street. The chair said the building official told her that the owners of the fire damaged building and their insurance company are hiring a structural engineer and would like to keep the building.
• Dark sky fixtures. Two residents sent a format for the list of light fixtures that fit both historic buildings and the town's dark sky bylaw. The commission is adding it to its web page.
• Violation letters. Of four letters sent, the church came in with an application, one other owner replied and two have not answered.

What was decided

• Minutes of Oct. 1: approved, 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Next meeting Dec. 3 instead of Nov. 26: agreed; Hale Street windows to a public hearing Dec. 3, 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Main Street addition to a public hearing Dec. 3: 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Mount Pleasant Street shed, certificate of appropriateness: 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Main Street window, certificate of appropriateness: 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• South Street windows, continued to Nov. 5: 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• St. Joachim Church doors, certificate of appropriateness: approved by roll call, from the meeting video; three yes votes were clearly heard.
• Adjourn at about 5:08 p.m.: 4 to 0, from the meeting video.

What happens next

• Nov. 4, 1 p.m.: Zoom session with town counsel, to be posted by the town.
• Nov. 5, 4 p.m.: next regular meeting, on Zoom, with the South Street windows.
• Nov. 13: the preservation consultant's visit and presentation, posted as a public meeting.
• Dec. 3, 4 p.m.: public hearings on the Hale Street windows and the Main Street addition. Abutters get written notice. Anyone can attend and speak at a public hearing.

Where to find the records

• Historical Commission page on the town website, with members, guidelines and the list of previously approved windows.
• Oct. 22 meeting listing on the town calendar. The agenda was not posted there or in the town's Agenda Center when this was written.
• Recorded Zoom meetings, where the town posts the recording. Minutes will be posted in the town's document portal.

Earlier coverage: Rockport historical panel moves ahead on $30,000 in markers and watches a fire damaged School Street building (Oct. 19), which covered the Oct. 1 meeting where the markers, the consultant, School Street and the church letter first came up.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online on the town's recording. Votes are as heard on the recording and are labeled from the meeting video until the commission's minutes confirm them. These are our meeting notes, not the commission's minutes.