NEWBURY — Shrouded in fog, a wrecking crew began tearing apart the Pink House Tuesday morning as supporters, and those who have spent the better part of 10 years trying to save the 100-year-old house from destruction, looked on from across the street.
“I’m just so upset,” Support The Pink House’s Rochelle Joseph said, barely keeping her composure.
The death warrant for the iconic structure was signed last week when Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced that after nearly four months of deliberations, its efforts to stave off its destruction by working with its owners, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, were not successful.
Support The Pink House board member Sandy Tilton was visibly angry and sad as she watched the proceedings saying she will “never forgive” those who pushed to demolish the house.
“A community’s history matters, a community’s voice matters and the truth matters,” Tilton said.
Both Tilton and Joseph said they had mixed emotions watching the Pink House’s demise with Tilton admitting she was “amazed” she was still there.
Joseph put it this way: “I don’t want to be here but I feel like I should.”
The first visible signs that Tuesday was the Pink House’s last day came when large pieces of heavy equipment were spotted around 6:45 a.m. heading toward the Plum Island Turnpike structure. By 8 a.m., a side portion of the house, already falling apart, was taken down entirely.
Operations ceased for more than an hour as plans were made to remove the house’s cupola in one piece so it could be preserved and serve as a reminder of the house’s existence.
A skeptical Tilton said she had to see for herself that the cupola would be saved – not taking the word of the demolition crew or the federal government.
“That’s why I am still standing here,” Tilton said.
Efforts to save the cupola were not successful however, adding another layer of disappointment for Tilton and other Pink House supporters.
During the lull, the number of people stopping by to take one last look at the Pink House grew quickly with the nearby Bob Lobster parking lot filling in short order. Many were armed with cameras while others held leashes attached to squirming dogs.
By 10 a.m. the building was reduced to a large pile of debris. The entire structure came down within 10 minutes. Shortly thereafter the remains were loaded into a large dump trailer.
Georgetown’s Dana Perkins just happened to be in Newburyport when he heard the house was coming down. With his smartphone in hand to snap some pictures, he headed across the street just as the roof of the structure began crumbling to the ground.
“It couldn’t be repaired. It was completely rotted and a mess so it was going to fall down. This is the right thing to do and there’s a lot of people getting emotional over nothing, I think,” he said. “I know it has been landmark. But it had been let go for so long, that it couldn’t be renovated. It’s a shame but today is the day.”
Melanna Fortin of Salisbury didn’t realize she was wearing a pink hoodie as she watched the chimney fall over, followed very quickly by the entire roof.
“I came down here a couple of weeks ago and I said there has been talk for years about this house coming down. When I heard that it was coming down today, I called a lot of my friends and they all thought it was awful,” she said. “It’s crazy how this has so much significance, even though it’s all the way down here. It almost makes me not want to come travel down here anymore.”
Newbury resident Gwyneth Glickman twirled a pink hula hoop as she watched the structure come down.
She said she was trying to conjure good energy for the home’s send off.
“I’m spinning in solidarity,” she said. “I can’t really protest at this point, right? What’s done is done. So, I figured I get my pink hula hoop and do this as my little goodbye to her.”
Holding back tears, Glickman added she understood that U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials has a job to do but said there are many people who did what they could to keep the house standing.
Demolition came less than 48 hours before dozens of people attended a vigil for the Pink House, again staging across the street at Bob Lobster.
Last Monday, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife official confirmed the building would be removed by the end of the month to coincide with the return of an estimated 300 migratory bird species that depend on the refuge for nesting and foraging.
Situated within the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, the Pink House became a mecca for local artists, as well as photographers who were drawn to its unique location and color.
In August, refuge manager Matt Hillman announced the structure would be demolished by Dec. 31, after an auction for the property in July saw no bidders.
In September, workers began preparing the house for demolition by removing the asbestos from the structure, which led to the removal of most of the roof, siding, and all the windows. At some point, the stairways to the house were also removed.
But in a surprise move Oct. 30, Healey stepped in, saying the demolition had been placed on hold. The governor added that conversations between her office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, as well as other stakeholders such as Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and state Rep. Kristen Kassner, D-Hamilton, were being held to determine a path forward.
In 2011, U.S. Fish and Wildlife bought the Pink House, as well as the 9.2-acre site it sits on for $375,000 from the Stott family. Plans to station federal workers there were, however, abandoned after the building was found to be in need of major renovations. The federal government then began searching for a way to offload the building to save money on its upkeep.
Because the house sat on federal property and was owned by the government, a land swap was the only way for it to be handed off to a new owner without an act of Congress.
Daily News reporter Jim Sullivan contributed to this story.