Seamen’s Bethel Cenotaphs Return Home

Two of the oldest buildings in New Bedford—The Seaman’s Bethel and The Mariner’s Home—are currently undergoing repairs. The leadership at The New Bedford Port Society expect the repairs to be completed sometime in the near future.

On Monday morning, workers from A. Walecka and Son Inc. delivered 13 cenotaphs out of their storage facility in West Wareham and back to the Seaman’s Bethel.  Another Walecka crew had carefully removed the cenotaphs in May of 2011 for renovations and repairs performed on the south side of the building.

Cenotaphs are large, historic stone tablets that honor fishermen and whalers lost at sea.  The wall that the cenotaphs hung from had to be repaired due damage from water and insects.

A crew from R.P. Valois & Co. will remount the cenotaphs back into their original places.  Their methods for mounting the hundred-plus pound tablets will surely surpass the methods used originally—some of the tablets were hung merely with screws (sometimes only three of them) and the screws were coming loose in some cases.

As for the Mariner’s Home, it is currently in its second week of emergency repairs.  Bricks on the south wall of the building began to crumble outward, so some of the bricks were replaced.

According to Fred Toomey, property manager at the Seaman’s Bethel and the Mariners Home, J.M. Booth Associates of William St. in New Bedford are currently in the process of doing a structural report to see exactly what needs to be done and how much it should cost.

The New Bedford Port Society, whom Toomey works for, has applied for grants to fund the remaining work needed at the Mariner’s home.

According to Peter Haley, The Director of the New Bedford Port Society, eight feet (out of forty) on the south wall had to be replaced, and they’re waiting on the grant money to fix the rest of it.

Rex Monumental Works of New Bedford also delivered a new tablet on Monday morning to be resurrected in the near future.

Tablets are different from the cenotaphs, because they generally recognize people who have lost their lives at sea but whose bodies have been recovered.  Paul Swain of the Port Society told me that they expect to have the dedication of the new tablet sometime within a month from now.

You can get a FREE tour of the Seamen’s Bethel each Monday from 1-2pm. Details here.