07/15/09
Hearing set on disposition of Goddard Mansion
The Town Council will hold a public hearing in September on recommendations from the Fort Williams Advisory Commission on the disposition of what is left of the Goddard Mansion.
The former mansion, located at the edge of Ship Cove and a landmark for Fort Williams, has been a curiosity for visitors and a mainstay for residents many years.
The hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, in the Town Hall chamber.
In April of this year, the council accepted a report from the advisory commission recommending that the town discontinue efforts to maintain the ruin as it now stands.
In the long term, the commission has several recommendations:
- Reduce the height of all the walls, possibly to seating height or first floor windowsill height, and cap them to minimize ongoing deterioration and maintenance.
- Save the main front entrance, if possible. This will probably require that a bracing system be installed.
- Open the interior of the ruins for public access.
- Grade, loam, and seed the interior for public access and easy maintenance.
- Install interpretive panels to explain the history of the ruins, guide people through the floor plan, etc.
The recommendations would be implemented as funds become available, according to the report. Commissioners estimate the cost of this plan at approximately $100,000.
Disposition of the Goddard Mansion is one of the goals identified by the Town Council for the current council year.
The Goddard Mansion was constructed in 1853 by John Goddard, later colonel of the First Maine Cavalry, with 2-feet thick stone masonry walls, and a roof and interior walls made of wood.
The mansion later became part of Fort Williams and was used to house non-commissioned officers. It became the property of the Town of Cape Elizabeth with the purchase of Fort Williams in 1964.
Deterioration and vandalism led the town to consider removing the mansion, but public support for the landmark convinced officials to stabilize the structure as a ruin.
The Fire Department conducted a controlled burn of the mainsion in 1981, and the basement was filled to allow visitors to access what remained of the building.
In a 2009 budget memo to the Town Council, commission Chairman Dan Chase wrote, "The structure has been a mainstay in the park for decades and has an emotional attachment with those who have explored its spaces, shared their wedding vows and posed for a picture on the front steps. Its appearance is captivating and invites the visitor to wonder what it looked liked before fires; the elements of weather and vandalism took its toll."
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