Dune shacks
Rick Smith
Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA)
Wednesday, June 28, 2023 4:14 p.m. ET
Cape Cod National Seashore rangers show up to evict artist Salvatore Del Deo
Cape Cod Times
PROVINCETOWN — On the day after Salvatore Del Deo was supposed to have his property removed from a dune shack he and his family have occupied for decades, National Park Service rangers showed up to evict him.
The 94-year-old painter wasn’t there, but family friend Michaela Murphy was. The rangers told her she was trespassing. She told them they didn’t have a warrant or eviction notice filed in court so there was no enforceable eviction, and she wouldn’t leave.
The day before, supporters had showed at the shack. Del Deo’s family had left the accoutrements of the shack, colorful mobiles hanging from the rafters, a table and kerosene lamp, some canned vegetables and coffee, the small Sears woodstove. It was a risk Del Deo's son, Romolo, said the family took in their fight against what he called, “an illegal and ageist operation.”
“This is an aberration in terms of legality and in terms of culture of the Outer Cape,” he said to supporters who had gathered. He said he expected the Seashore to start levying fines until the belongings were removed.
The shack has been used without legal authority, according to the National Park Service
Seashore officials contend the shack has been used without legal authority, and notified Del Deo that he had to vacate the property, even granting him an extension to do so.
"We recognize individuals occupying the dune shacks without legal authority to do so are disappointed by these changes," read an email from Linzy French, visual information specialist with the Cape Cod National Seashore. The National Park Service "has worked with them to grant them additional time or other accommodations so that they can make any necessary arrangements to vacate the dune shack currently under their use and care," French said.
French said the National Park Service is following law and regulations, balancing the needs of individual interests and meeting their obligation as stewards of the dune shack district.
"The NPS is committed to equitable access to public lands," French's email said. "Individuals overstaying terminated life estates without legal authority have been using public lands for their private and exclusive benefit and like anyone occupying NPS property without legal authority to do so, they are expected to vacate."
Many have expressed support for the Del Deo family
There’s been a groundswell of support for Del Deo. U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Massachusetts, sent two letters on behalf of Del Deo, asking the U.S. Department of Interior to issue a special permit to Del Deo, allowing him to stay.
A petition to halt Del Deo’s eviction on change.org had more than 12,000 signatures as of Wednesday. On Tuesday about 30 supporters made their way across the dunes, according to Romolo. Francesco di Santis was one of them.
“These dune shacks are part of our heritage,” he said. “I hope that those who have a personal connection to them always have access to them.”
Salvatore Del Deo's connection to the dune shack has lasted 77 years
Del Deo’s connection stretches back 77 years. Built by Jeanne "Frenchie" Schnell, the shack predates the establishment of the National Seashore. Schnell was granted a lifetime lease, but she “bequeathed” the shack to Del Deo, according to Romolo. The Del Deo family has been using it ever since.
Romolo wants a “responsive, culturally attentive” succession plan for the shacks. He wants the Department of Interior to step in and hold accountable the people he said tore up the 2012 land use and preservation agreement. They should not stay in power, he said.
He wants the current request for proposals to manage and care for eight dune shacks (Del Deo’s is not included) halted and the process mediated by the Department of Interior. He believes emergency legislation should be introduced to create operating guidelines for the National Park Service about the Provincetown dunes and dune shacks.
Any solution should prioritize current occupants, he said.
Equitable access to public lands is a commitment of the National Park Service
But French wrote that the Park Service "is committed to equitable access to public lands."
Romolo cited the shacks' historic nature and their cultural importance to the country: Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and e.e. cummings worked in the dunes, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Del Deo, his wife, Josephine, Romolo, and his wife, Tatiana, have their own artistic legacies.
But the physical labor involved in caring for the shacks has been the responsibility of the occupants. They’ve shoveled sand, lifted buildings, moved outhouses, repaired roofs and the damages incurred during storms that sweep the tip of Cape Cod.
The roof of Salvatore Del Deo’s dune shack sits level to the dune that has nearly surrounded it. A wooden walkway leads down to a door that usually has a pile of sand blown up against it. A shovel is a necessity out here.
Winds change the landscape in dramatic ways, burying shacks, removing beach fronts, building sand dunes where none were previously. Supporter Stefan Anik doubts that new tenants will care for and maintain the shacks with the same degree of love.
“Do you think the next tenants are going to come here in December when it's 20 degrees with 100 mph winds and shovel sand?” he asked. “Do you think they're going to come here and protect our lands? We’re handing away our culture.”
Once the shacks are vacated, the National Park Service intends to assess their conditions, address any needed repairs, and include them for leases "consistent with the Peaked Hill Bars National Historic District Preservation and Use Plan," the email read.
Rick Smith
5264 N. Fort Yuma Trail
Tucson, AZ 85750
5264
Rick Smith
Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA)
Sunday, July 2, 2023 4:50 a.m. ET
Opinion/Your Turn:
Park Service should delay dune shack bids, consider different options
John A. Lipman
Guest Columnist
John A. Lipman is a writer in Orleans. He was recently awarded an artist’s residency in one of the dune shacks.
Monday is the proposal deadline for applications to the National Park Service for 10-year leases for many of Provincetown’s famous dune shacks. To those unfamiliar with the dune shacks, these tiny, ramshackle shanties, popping up like poverty grass from behind beach plum bushes and heather-spotted sand hills, are among the most miraculous icons of culture and history that Cape Cod has to offer. Over the decades, they have been inhabited by some of America’s most famous writers and artists including Eugene O’Neill, Susan Glaspell, Norman Mailer, Mabel Dodge, and local writer Robert Finch.
Now eight of these iconic shacks are up for lease to any qualifying bidder. Decades-long residents — who have paid local taxes, obeyed park service rules, and constantly maintained these engines of history with their own money, materials, and sweat equity — are being expelled with little advance warning.
This is wrong. One can understand that the park service has an interest in these dwellings that may not fit with local plans, particularly those who occupy them. But the wholesale elimination of the people who have dwelled there for generations, and the history and the culture they bring to the dune shacks, is a bureaucratic travesty.
When the National Seashore was established in the early 1960s, there was no inkling that the federal government would ever do what they are doing today. Many of those who dwelled in the shacks came forth and supported the preservation of this incredible landscape, including the renowned local artist Josephine Del Deo, a frequent resident of one of the shacks since the early 1950s, with her husband Sal. Yet in subsequent years, the park service attempted to bulldoze the shacks, presumably finding them inconsistent with natural resource values. Over time, local common sense prevailed. The shacks became part of the Peaked Hill Bars Historic District, and in 2012, the 1,960-acre preserve was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Now Sal Del Deo, at age 94, is being forced out of his historic summer retreat. His domicile isn’t even one of the eight shacks up for bid. Perhaps more shockingly, the park service — the agency that for many years wanted to tear down the dune shacks — is now seeking to maximize its financial return. While each shack in the request for proposals is assigned a minimum bid value, a bidder can offer more money, increasing their chances of being awarded a lease. Giving a higher bid so much as an iota of positive consideration amounts to a cheap sell-off of everything this community holds dear.
It is not too late. The National Park Service can and should postpone the bidding program for at least a year (that can be done even after the proposal deadline) and re-examine how the request for proposals is structured, this time with much greater local input.
Perhaps the shacks could be leased on a part-time basis, with current residents having a period of time set aside for them each year. Perhaps those residents could be given the “right of first refusal” before outside bidders are awarded leases. Most importantly, the bidding program should establish a set price for each cottage with no cash bonuses offered, and awards should be based solely on an applicant’s connection to Provincetown’s remarkable art community, history, and culture.
Finally, the Park Service should allow Sal Del Leo to live his final years in the place that has defined his life, and that of his beloved departed wife, Josephine. Such an incredibly humane gesture might help to restore the public’s frayed relationship with the National Park Service. And it would send a message to the public that there is no Cape Cod without the unvarnished, true, and proud people who call this windblown sandbar home.
Email: rsmit...@comcast.net