This summer, PI: N students discovered the unexpected pedigree of the Jetties Beach Pavilion
BY MARLI GUZZETTA INDEPENDENT ARTS EDITOR
When you're in the family way, even the most beautiful, pristine Nantucket beach can be less-than-perfect if it's missing shelter, shade, water and bathrooms. Given its proximity to downtown, Jetties Beach still wouldn't be as welcoming to families as it is without the benefit of the pavilion that represents civilization - maybe a cool drink, a place to change and a new pair of flip-flops.

Photo of Jetties Beach Pavillion, 1925. COURTESY NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Clifford Folger built the structure in 1904, after leasing the land from the town for "$350 per annum for a term of 15 years with privilege of five years' renewal," according to the research conducted this summer by the Preservation Institute: Nantucket, when it selected the pavilion as its group project this summer.

Hosted by the University of Florida, PI: N was founded 35 years ago by UF professor emeritus Blair Reeves and Walter Beinecke. Initially, it operated out of private resiences until it found its current home, upstairs at 11 Centre Street.

The program invites architecture students from all schools and institutions all over the world to live on Nantucket for the summer and learn the craft of preservation.

COURTESY NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Bathing beach at the Cliff. Nantucket Bathers at the Jetties Beach. Horses and carriages are in the background as well as the bath houses, c. 1874.

Before the summer begins, PI: N director Peter Prugh meets with local preservation organizations to determine which structure is in the most dire need of a historical review. His first year with PI: N, Prugh documented the structure that is now the Point Breeze. For this, the program's 35th year, Nantucket Parks and Recreation requested a study on the pavilion, according to Prugh.

"Parks and Rec came to us and said, 'People keep wanting to make modifications, but we think it's a historic building. …"

As a group, the students in the program documented the building in detail - measuring it in the field, photographing it, drawing it and then performing exhaustive research on its history. The group also performed a "conditions assessment" of elements including the structure's roof, walls, etc., to create a prioritized maintenance plan for the building.

Jetties Beach, summer 1922, with the 'casino' in the background.

The students spent hours at the Nantucket Atheneum and the Nantucket Historical Association Research Library, going through old newspaper issues, the Registry of Deeds - they found a picture of the pavilion in its nascence, with the name of Boston-based architectural firm Peabody and Stearns.

"It turns out that Peabody and Stearns designed the pavilion. They did buildings up and down the coast of the United States, particularly in resort areas," Prugh explained. "And the students found out that the original drawings are in the Boston Public Library, so we took a field trip to Boston, and they got to see the original drawings done by Peabody and Stearns."

In operation from 1870 to 1917, according to the PI:N report, "the firm's prominence was eclipsed by the work of H.H. Richardson. After Richardson's death in 1886, Peabody and Stearns received widespread acclaim and were chosen to represent Boston at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Their professional work included the design of residences, civic buildings and beach side buildings among others. ... They were responsible for the design of the first Breakers, which burned and was replaced by the current Breakers."

This was the biggest surprise of the summer's research, Prugh said. "It was a big thing for us, people in architecture, but even for anyone with a passing interest in architecture.There are Peabody and Stearns buildings all up and down the coast, in every major city, you can find Peabody and Stearns. … What this said was that a prominent architectural firm designed this modest little structure, which actually wasn't so modest at the time."

The report goes on to add: "The pavilion building was first referred to as the 'casino' with 'a wing on either side.' The casino was designed to be two stories, 40 x 20 ft with a 'covered piazza 40x15 feet on the shore front.' The lower floor housed an office, food counter that sold refreshments, and a 'waiting room' that could be used by all visitors. Four apartments on the second floor were designed to be used by the janitor and his family. The casino was designed to sit high enough off of the beach, so as to provide a 'full view of the bathers.' ..."

Beachgoers who've recently had to wait online for the facilities at Jetties might marvel that, at one time, there were as many as 300 bathrooms in each wing of the building, with one wing designed for men and the other for women.

The report continued: "Mr. Folger had estimated that the work on the complex would be completed by June 15, 1904, and to reach this goal, he had 'imported a force of fifteen carpenters to hustle the work along.' Materials were brought about the schooner, Marion Belle from New Bedford."

The original design included the existing pavilion in the center, but also accounted for two long wings on either side - those pieces were taken off in the no-name storm.

With their research, the students created a chronology, a set of plan drawings and maps that show the building at different configurations in different times of history, as well as an exhaustive report of the building's history and structure.

All the records that PI: N amassed on this building - and on any building they've recorded in the last 35 years - are available free to the public via the NHA's Research Library on Fair Street.

Last summer, the group researched the Surfside Lifesaving Station, which is the oldest remaining lifesaving station on its original foundation in the United States.

"To be able to document as much as we do, and do the work we do, is as much a service for the students as it is

for the community," Prugh said. I