Fighting For A Legacy

Ruth DeMaria passes a boat at the pier in the Deep Creek area of Newport News. Her mother, Bonnie Melzer, donated the land to the former Warwick County in 1933 on condition that a public pier be built and maintained. (Diane Cebula, Daily Press / August 30, 2007)

Source: dailypress.com
By Sabine Hirschauer

September 1, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS – Ruth Melzer DeMaria’s family roots run deep in the Deep Creek area.

Normandy Lane used to carry the Melzer name. The family also has close ties to one of Deep Creek’s few historic gems, today entangled for the second time in controversy: the 476-foot-long pier at the end of Deep Creek Road, which since the 1940s has given residents an almost perfect spot to fish or watch a sunset and local watermen free anchorage and a place to work.

The city plans to demolish the pier on Sept. 15. and for the second time since 2002, DeMaria and other Deep Creek residents find themselves fighting for the pier’s life.

“My parents used the pier, we used the pier, my children and now my grandchildren use the pier,” DeMaria said. “We always thought it was the most wonderful spot in the world.”

The city will spend nearly $50,000 to raze the pier and $300,000 to rebuild the shoreline at the old Menchville Marina across the creek.

DeMaria, now 76, still vividly remembers Warwick County officials knocking on her mother’s door in the late 1930s – she was 7 or 8 years old – to negotiate a land deal. Bonnie Melzer, who had purchased 12 acres of land along Deep Creek in 1913, did exactly that. She gave the county land for road access down to the Deep Creek harbor with one caveat: the county had to agree to build a public pier for the local oystermen and residents to enjoy the waters – for free. “And forever,” DeMaria said. “And it’s not just for the people who immediately live here. It’s for anyone. This was the purpose my mother gave it.”

The county built the pier in the 1940s. When Warwick County consolidated with Newport News in 1958, the pier – and the cost of maintaining it – fell to Newport News.

“It was kind of a longstanding agreement and there was nothing in writing,” said Michael Poplawski, director of the city’s department of parks, recreation and tourism. “The pier just reached such an advanced stage of deterioration that it needs to go.” Over the years the pier deteriorated despite constant repairs, city officials said.

The city first decided to raze the pier in 2002, but about 1,000 residents signed a petition to prevent the demolition. Today, Poplawski said, repair is not an option. The city would have to replace the entire pier.

Poplawski said the problems aren’t with the relatively intact planks of the deck, but with the rotting pilings, joists and stringers underneath, which no longer safely support the top structure.

He estimates it would cost $500,000 to rebuild the pier completely. This summer the City Council voted to stop pouring more money into the aging structure.

Pier Planning

Source: dailypress.com

September 25, 2007

It is a pure tragedy that the city decided to tear down the Deep Creek pier and send the watermen to the Menchville side. The bulkhead and pilings are more deteriorated than the pier. Where will the boats go that come here from all over for oyster season in two weeks? Where will they go when they decide to repair the Menchville side?

The city has raised our taxes on our homes and pushed us this way and that. Then it wonders why people are leaving the area.

The city has taken one of the last things that’s free. It’s wrong, wrong, wrong. It would have been in the city’s best interest to have set aside land for parking, a bathroom and a place for seafood buyers to come to get the watermen’s catch. So, if the County of Warwick was to have the pier there in the first place, why did it not plan for all the things the city says are not there now?

Carol Hogge

Newport News

Decking comes off but pier’s fate still in doubt

Photo by site administrator 9/24/2007

The result of the new, independent engineering study is expected sometime this week.

Source: dailypress.com

By Sabine Hirschauer 247-4536

September 25, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS – City workers began early Monday morning ripping the deck boards off the aging Deep Creek pier.

Throughout the day, people arrived to see for themselves what was happening to the pier, a mainstay in their community. For weeks, many residents fought to preserve the landmark.

The 476-foot pier, originally built in the 1940s, found itself recently at the center of a controversy between residents who want to save the public dock and city officials who voted last month to tear it down.

“I would like to see it rebuilt,” said Richard Ivy, who drove down to the pier Monday morning as he does about once a week to look at the Deep Creek fishing boats.

“The city owes it to the public to have a pier down here,” he said.

Officials on Monday said they are pulling all of the decking mainly to inspect the condition of the pilings.

“Regardless of what the city decides, the deck boards have to come up,” said Jon Gamache, superintendent of the city’s facilities and grounds department.

Newport News is still waiting for federal permits for the removal of the pilings, which are in such bad shape that the city has to tear down the entire pier instead of repairing it, city officials said. A new pier is estimated to cost about $500,000.

The pier’s fate is still looming.

“That’s somebody else’s decision,” said Gamache about the final demolition.

In the 1930s, Deep Creek resident Bonnie Melzer donated land to Warwick County and asked in return for county officials to build a public pier, which they did in the 1940s.

When the county consolidated with Newport News in 1958, the pier became city property and its maintenance, the city’s responsibility.

For Deep Creek watermen, the demolition could not have come at a busier time. Oyster season will start Monday and the watermen at the old Menchville Marina across from the pier now include at least a handful of the watermen who used to dock at the Deep Creek pier. And come next week about 15 or more watermen from Tangier Island will add to the crowded docking space.

“It’s not safe tying up here anymore,” said Danny Sterling who has harvested oysters at Deep Creek for the past 35 years. He watched from across the creek with other watermen Monday as city workers pulled the planks.

“We hate to see it go,” he said.

A new, independent engineering study this week should shed more light into how much it would cost to replace or repair the pier.

“Apparently, it doesn’t matter to the city,” said John Atkinson, a local title researcher and Deep Creek resident. Atkinson is digging into the ownership history of the pier and initiated the new study.

He said city officials don’t want to wait for the engineering study. “They don’t want to wait for anything. They just want to take it down.”

Within the next two months, staff from the parks and recreation department will present to the Newport News City Council estimates on how much it would cost to rebuild the pier for pedestrians as opposed to the cost for a full-fledged commercial fishing dock.The city expects to have all of the decking removed by end of this week.

“I have a hard time believing,” said John DeMaria Jr., Bonnie Melzer’s grandson, “that the city is ignoring its responsibility.”

Deep Creek Pier coming down

City employees from the Newport News Parks and Recreation Department load up the old wood from the Deep Creek pier. (Dave Bowman, Daily Press / September 24, 2007)

Source: dailypress.com

BY MIKE HOLTZCLAW 757-928-6479
1:13 PM EDT, September 24, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS – Work crews began the task of taking down the Deep Creek Pier in Newport News this morning.The pier, located on Deep Creek Harbor at the end of Deep Creek Road, was condemned because of advanced deterioration. Today crews began removing its deck boards, which are less than a decade old and are still in good condition.But Mike Poplawski, director of parks, recreation and tourism for the city, said the pilings and other parts of the pier are almost 50 years old and in poor condition. He said the pilings will likely be removed within the next two months.

Jami Ditto of the Newport News Parks and Recreation Department takes a break after prying up old planks on the Deep Creek pier Monday morning. (Dave Bowman, Daily Press / September 24, 2007)

Repair Deep Creek Pier

Source: dailypress.com

Repair pier
September 17, 2007

I am a senior citizen and local tax-paying resident for a lifetime. I grew up in this area and I knew Bonnie Belle Amory Melzer and her husband, John Melzer, for many years. Our families were close friends.

Bonnie Belle gave the waterfront property at the end of Deep Creek Road for the community’s enjoyment and to provide free docking of watermen’s boats for ever and ever.

This was a gift to be used by the fishermen and oystermen who worked the James River and people who enjoyed the pier like me and my family.

Insisting on using taxpayers’ money to tear down this pier is not right. The money should be spent to repair this old landmark.

Patsy Nettles Tomlin
Newport News

Rebuild Deep Creek Pier

Source: dailypress.com

Rebuild NN pier
September 20, 2007

I agree with everyone who wants the Deep Creek pier rebuilt and kept. This pier is a standing example of a landmark and sacred to those who have used it for almost a century.

If my grandmother’s grandfather, Hudson Mench, was able to speak, he would be appalled by the lack of care about this structure. He was the first postmaster of Warwick County and owned and operated the mail office at the end of Menchville Road.

He left the city land at the end of Menchville Road for watermen, and also sold the City Farm to the city.

He was fair and honest to everyone, and this pier at the end of Deep Creek was left fair and honestly for the watermen.

William T. White
Newport News

Residents make last-minute plea for pier

Please accept my apologies. Some articles are out of order; they are being posted as the research is taking place, however, they are all dated. Thank you.

Site Administrator

Photo by site administrator

Source for article: dailypress.com

They are being told to leave the pier by Saturday. Demolition is expected to begin next week.

BY SABINE HIRSCHAUER

September 13, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS – They did it more than two decades ago and in 2002. Now, they’ll do it again.

In the eleventh hour – or just days away from demolition – Deep Creek residents and watermen find themselves again pleading with the city to keep Deep Creek pier, the 476-foot long dock at the end of Deep Creek Road, from being razed.

“This is a historic landmark and served the community well,” Ruth Melzer DeMaria told Newport News City Council members Tuesday night.

The council voted last month to tear down the pier because of its poor condition. With demolition starting next week, about a dozen or so watermen who dock there will have to leave by Saturday and move across the creek to the Menchville Marina.

DeMaria’s family has close ties to the pier. In the 1930s, her mother, Bonnie Melzer, gave land to what was then Warwick County providing access to the creek under one condition: The county had to build and maintain a pier there. Warwick County built the pier in the 1940s, and when the county consolidated with Newport News in 1958, the pier became city property.

“There is not a prettier place in Newport News,” DeMaria said. “A promise is made to be kept. A promise made is a promise kept.”

The city will spend nearly $50,000 to raze the pier and $300,000 to rebuild the shoreline at the old Menchville Marina.

“The pier brought countless people together,” said Ruth Withrow, wife of a Deep Creek waterman. “It’s been such a source of happiness.”

About 22 years ago, the pier faced a similar fate. And in 2002, an engineering report again recommended razing because of the pier’s poor condition. More than 1,000 residents signed a petition and saved the aging dock then.

Last month, the council again voted to tear it down.

“It’s a liability issue,” said Councilman Bert Bateman Jr., who represents the Deep Creek area along with Councilman William Haskins. “We could face large lawsuits.” The residents want the city, which they say did not properly maintain the pier for years, to fix it. City officials, however, said that’s not an option anymore. They said the pier needs to be replaced, which would cost an estimated $500,000.

“It would be great if we could do it, but it has gotten so old over the years,” said Michael Poplawski, director of the parks, recreation and tourism department.

While the pier might have to go, the city still wants to keep open the possibility of a new pier at Deep Creek in the future. “We will still have the right-of-way down to the pier,” Poplawski said. “We will retain this. We would not get rid of this.”

To build a new pier is up to the City Council, but the core problem remains: The city owns the pier and the access to it but does not have land for parking, restroom facilities and space for the fishermen to unload their daily catch.

For the city to invoke eminent domain for land that could be used for parking would be unlikely, Poplawski said.

“It’s not one of the first things they typically look at,” he said. “It’s not something the city is taking lightly.”

Council members have asked Poplawski’s department for cost estimates for a new pier and parking.

“Perhaps one day we build another one. I don’t think the pier is over and done with. That side of Deep Creek would need something like that,” Bateman said. “But we also don’t have a lot of money hanging around to build it right now.”

Some of the history of Deep Creek Pier

Bonniebelle Amory Melzer purchased twelve acres of land located at the end of Deep Creek Road in the early 1900s. In the early 1930s, at the request of Warwick County officials, she made a land grant which provided the county with the last remaining access to Deep Creek Harbor. At that time the road ended over three hundred feet from the water’s edge.She requested no monetary remuneration. Her only stipulation was the construction of a pier to be used, without payment of fees, by the watermen and citizens alike, and that it would be maintained by Warwick County in perpetuity. A road which enabled the much desired access to Deep Creek Harbor was established, and the construction of the pier eventually went forward as promised. This stipulation was accepted by Warwick County officials and the “promise” was inherited by Newport News when the county consolidated with Newport News in 1958. At that time the pier became city property.The pier was maintained for many years, but has gradually fallen into disrepair over the years because the City Council of Newport News has failed to allocate the funds necessary to maintain it properly. On August 14, 2007, City Council voted approval of funds for the demolition of Deep Creek pier, claiming the pier is “unsafe.”

Deep Creek Marina is a historical area, and the pier is of historical significance. It is the only pier in the area that remains free to the public. These questions must be asked, “Who benefits if the pier remains?” and “Who benefits if it goes?”

The watermen, already working in an industry under stress, have been forced to move their boats to the unprotected Menchville side of Deep Creek. Their boats will no longer enjoy a safe harbor, but will face straight winds from the channel when storms arrive. Their other option is to pay $1,800. a year for dockage. This is not a viable solution for most and is in direct conflict with Bonniebelle Melzer’s wishes. Her intent was for the watermen to have a safe place to dock and work on their boats.

An affidavit is available, signed by Bonniebelle Melzer’s son, George Melzer, who was a witness when the original agreement was made between Bonniebelle Melzer and Warwick County. The City claims to have no record of the Melzer Land Grant. It is arguable that in the absence of such records, the signed affidavit of a first hand eye witness is legal and binding, and should be honored.

Note:
site administrator’s email address on right
petition information on right

N.N. City Government addresses on right

deepcreekpier@yahoo.com

Fighting For A Legacy

R

Ruth DeMaria passes a boat at the pier in the Deep Creek area of Newport News. Her mother, Bonnie Melzer, donated the land to the former Warwick County in 1933 on condition that a public pier be built and maintained. (Diane Cebula, Daily Press / August 30, 2007)

Source: dailypress.com
September 1, 2007
By Sabine Hirschauer

NEWPORT NEWS – Ruth Melzer DeMaria’s family roots run deep in the Deep Creek area.

Normandy Lane used to carry the Melzer name. The family also has close ties to one of Deep Creek’s few historic gems, today entangled for the second time in controversy: the 476-foot-long pier at the end of Deep Creek Road, which since the 1940s has given residents an almost perfect spot to fish or watch a sunset and local watermen free anchorage and a place to work.

The city plans to demolish the pier on Sept. 15. and for the second time since 2002, DeMaria and other Deep Creek residents find themselves fighting for the pier’s life.

“My parents used the pier, we used the pier, my children and now my grandchildren use the pier,” DeMaria said. “We always thought it was the most wonderful spot in the world.”

The city will spend nearly $50,000 to raze the pier and $300,000 to rebuild the shoreline at the old Menchville Marina across the creek.

DeMaria, now 76, still vividly remembers Warwick County officials knocking on her mother’s door in the late 1930s – she was 7 or 8 years old – to negotiate a land deal. Bonnie Melzer, who had purchased 12 acres of land along Deep Creek in 1913, did exactly that. She gave the county land for road access down to the Deep Creek harbor with one caveat: the county had to agree to build a public pier for the local oystermen and residents to enjoy the waters – for free. “And forever,” DeMaria said. “And it’s not just for the people who immediately live here. It’s for anyone. This was the purpose my mother gave it.”

The county built the pier in the 1940s. When Warwick County consolidated with Newport News in 1958, the pier – and the cost of maintaining it – fell to Newport News.

“It was kind of a longstanding agreement and there was nothing in writing,” said Michael Poplawski, director of the city’s department of parks, recreation and tourism. “The pier just reached such an advanced stage of deterioration that it needs to go.” Over the years the pier deteriorated despite constant repairs, city officials said.

The city first decided to raze the pier in 2002, but about 1,000 residents signed a petition to prevent the demolition. Today, Poplawski said, repair is not an option. The city would have to replace the entire pier.

Poplawski said the problems aren’t with the relatively intact planks of the deck, but with the rotting pilings, joists and stringers underneath, which no longer safely support the top structure.

He estimates it would cost $500,000 to rebuild the pier completely. This summer the City Council voted to stop pouring more money into the aging structure.

“It’s not a matter of saving it,” Poplawski said. “We need to tear down the existing structure. It’s too old and too deteriorated and too unsafe. It reached the end of its useful life.” Some residents disagree.

“I walk to the pier almost every day,” said 65-year-old retiree David Kundis, who built his Deep Creek dream home about 10 years ago. “It’s one of the most scenic places in Newport News. It’s part of our history here. I see kids playing there, fishing, watermen working. Why in the world would you want to tear down the pier?”

The city doesn’t want to spend more tax dollars on an aging dock. It owns the pier and the access to it, but does not have land for parking, restroom facilities and space for the fishermen to unload their daily catch. Two decades ago, about 60 commercial fishermen worked out of the pier.

As the shellfish industry has spiraled downward, fewer and fewer watermen have been using the dock.

By Sept. 15, the city wants to move the dozen or so remaining commercial fishing boats left at the pier across the creek to the old Menchville Marina, where the city bought seven acres in 1995.

But the fishermen don’t like the idea, either.

“It’s like you are tying your boat up against barbed wire over there,” said Clyde Powell, whose family has been crabbing and harvesting oysters from the pier for generations.

Across the creek the incoming tide makes it difficult to dock and the city land is not as protected from storms.

“We have no place to go,” Powell said.

For DeMaria, a big part of her family’s and Deep Creek’s history would disappear along with the pier.

“A promise made is a promise kept,” DeMaria said about her mother’s agreement with Warwick County seven decades ago. “Can you expire a promise?”

Ruth DeMaria passes a boat at the pier in the Deep Creek area of Newport News. Her mother, Bonnie Melzer, donated the land to the former Warwick County in 1933 on condition that a public pier be built and maintained. (Diane Cebula, Daily Press / August 30, 2007)

Source: dailypress.com
September 1, 2007
By Sabine Hirschauer

NEWPORT NEWS – Ruth Melzer DeMaria’s family roots run deep in the Deep Creek area.

Normandy Lane used to carry the Melzer name. The family also has close ties to one of Deep Creek’s few historic gems, today entangled for the second time in controversy: the 476-foot-long pier at the end of Deep Creek Road, which since the 1940s has given residents an almost perfect spot to fish or watch a sunset and local watermen free anchorage and a place to work.

The city plans to demolish the pier on Sept. 15. and for the second time since 2002, DeMaria and other Deep Creek residents find themselves fighting for the pier’s life.

“My parents used the pier, we used the pier, my children and now my grandchildren use the pier,” DeMaria said. “We always thought it was the most wonderful spot in the world.”

The city will spend nearly $50,000 to raze the pier and $300,000 to rebuild the shoreline at the old Menchville Marina across the creek.

DeMaria, now 76, still vividly remembers Warwick County officials knocking on her mother’s door in the late 1930s – she was 7 or 8 years old – to negotiate a land deal. Bonnie Melzer, who had purchased 12 acres of land along Deep Creek in 1913, did exactly that. She gave the county land for road access down to the Deep Creek harbor with one caveat: the county had to agree to build a public pier for the local oystermen and residents to enjoy the waters – for free. “And forever,” DeMaria said. “And it’s not just for the people who immediately live here. It’s for anyone. This was the purpose my mother gave it.”

The county built the pier in the 1940s. When Warwick County consolidated with Newport News in 1958, the pier – and the cost of maintaining it – fell to Newport News.

“It was kind of a longstanding agreement and there was nothing in writing,” said Michael Poplawski, director of the city’s department of parks, recreation and tourism. “The pier just reached such an advanced stage of deterioration that it needs to go.” Over the years the pier deteriorated despite constant repairs, city officials said.

The city first decided to raze the pier in 2002, but about 1,000 residents signed a petition to prevent the demolition. Today, Poplawski said, repair is not an option. The city would have to replace the entire pier.

Poplawski said the problems aren’t with the relatively intact planks of the deck, but with the rotting pilings, joists and stringers underneath, which no longer safely support the top structure.

He estimates it would cost $500,000 to rebuild the pier completely. This summer the City Council voted to stop pouring more money into the aging structure.

“It’s not a matter of saving it,” Poplawski said. “We need to tear down the existing structure. It’s too old and too deteriorated and too unsafe. It reached the end of its useful life.” Some residents disagree.

“I walk to the pier almost every day,” said 65-year-old retiree David Kundis, who built his Deep Creek dream home about 10 years ago. “It’s one of the most scenic places in Newport News. It’s part of our history here. I see kids playing there, fishing, watermen working. Why in the world would you want to tear down the pier?”

The city doesn’t want to spend more tax dollars on an aging dock. It owns the pier and the access to it, but does not have land for parking, restroom facilities and space for the fishermen to unload their daily catch. Two decades ago, about 60 commercial fishermen worked out of the pier.

As the shellfish industry has spiraled downward, fewer and fewer watermen have been using the dock.

By Sept. 15, the city wants to move the dozen or so remaining commercial fishing boats left at the pier across the creek to the old Menchville Marina, where the city bought seven acres in 1995.

But the fishermen don’t like the idea, either.

“It’s like you are tying your boat up against barbed wire over there,” said Clyde Powell, whose family has been crabbing and harvesting oysters from the pier for generations.

Across the creek the incoming tide makes it difficult to dock and the city land is not as protected from storms.

“We have no place to go,” Powell said.

For DeMaria, a big part of her family’s and Deep Creek’s history would disappear along with the pier.

“A promise made is a promise kept,” DeMaria said about her mother’s agreement with Warwick County seven decades ago. “Can you expire a promise?”