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May 2, 2007

Neighbors send message with statue

Stephen Tait

NEWBURYPORT — With cash in one hand and rolled-up construction plans in the other, “The Desecrator” stands at least 6 feet tall.

And on top of his wooden pedestal, which makes him at least 8 feet, the man made of duct tape seems quite formidable, almost guard-like. He stands on Brown Street, woodlands behind him and the Oak Hill Cemetery just up the road.

But this monument is not made to praise a noble leader or to memorialize a fallen hero.

“The Desecrator” is the work of Nathan Felde, a neighbor of the property behind the Wheelwright House, which is slated for development by Newburyporter Todd Fremont-Smith, whom the duct-tape man is supposed to represent.

And like most works of art, Felde’s also has meaning — or at least a message to Fremont-Smith: Don’t build homes on this unique land.

“We build monuments to all sort of things, and we often forget to build monuments for disasters,” Felde said. “We’ve been trying to think of ways to call attention to the proposed development. This is our way to focus attention to it.”

“The Desecrator” is written on the base of the monument, followed by: “Neither God nor the world will judge us by our professions but by our practices.” It is a play on the prominent Newburyport monument called “Garrison the Liberator,” which stands near City Hall in Brown Square.

The same quote is etched onto that monument, and the posing of the body, hands and head on both monuments is similar.

William Lloyd Garrison, a 19th century Newburyport native, was a newspaper editor whose fiery anti-slavery rhetoric became a rallying cry for the abolitionist movement — a movement that helped spark the Civil War.

Fremont-Smith is proposing to build four, single-family homes on the parcel behind the Wheelwright mansion, one of which he would live in with his family. Last year, he purchased the land, which was part of the historic Wheelwright House on High Street. He sold the Wheelwright home, but his plans to develop the land along “The Ridge” — a high ridge of land behind the High Street mansions where prominent Newburyport families once maintained garden and park-like estates — has run into strong opposition from neighbors.

The duct-tape monument stands near where the entrance to the small subdivision is planned.

Some Newburyport residents are outraged about the development and say it would desecrate the land and spoil some of the city’s open space.

Felde said the land is unique because of its history, William Wheelwright’s nearby tomb, the wetlands and conservation land that serve as a habitat for animals, and a nearby chapel. He said the development is an example of another piece of Newburyport that would be ruined.

“The idea is if this can be effective in slowing down the destruction of Newburyport, then it’s worth it,” Felde said of the monument. “This town is starting to look like every other town.”

Fremont-Smith, in an e-mail, said that because he had not yet seen it, he did not want to comment about the monument.

Felde said he will bronze the monument, no matter the outcome of the proposed development.

“Our intention is to memorialize what happens,” he said. “Good, bad or ugly.”

The monument was made with two rolls of duct tape wrapped around materials like chicken wire and other recyclable materials. It took Felde and his wife, Megan, just a day to make it. They erected it Monday.

“The Desecrator” is quite detailed for a statue made of duct tape: Buttons run down the center of his shirt, covered by a duct-tape tie; a breast pocket on his shirt is noticeable; and his pants hang down around his shoes.

The duct-tape statue doesn’t have any hair.

Back in Brown Square, the “Garrison the Liberator” monument has another quote etched into its base.

In fact, the quote could very well serve as Fremont-Smith’s retort, if he were to build a monument of his own.

That quote reads: “I solicit no man’s praise. I fear no man’s censure. The liberty of a people is the gift of God and nature.”

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