Who Paid To Repair The Main Street Fountain?

The initial shock of its destruction last October has waned, the court case is closed (for now), and Nantucket's historic fountain has been reinstalled in its rightful place on lower Main Street.

One of the few lingering questions remaining is: who paid for it? With no one being charged criminally or civilly for its destruction, was the town on the hook for the costs associated with the fountain’s repair?

As it turns out, no.

In the week after it was destroyed, the town engaged the Plymouth, MA-based Bartlett Consolidated LLC, a company that provides services to public property owners to assist in “the repair and restitution of roadway appurtenances damaged in vehicular crashes.”

Under the agreement between the town and Bartlett Consolidated, the company completes the repairs and is authorized to pursue and recoup its costs from the owner of the vehicle - Michael Holdgate.

“Bartlett Consolidated does not collect any money until after the owner (Town) signs off on the satisfaction of the repairs and installation,” town manager Libby Gibson said in an email to the Current on June 3, shortly before the fountain was reinstalled. “That has not yet occurred. I expect a sign-off shortly. With that said, Bartlett clearly felt that there was enough commitment from both/either the owner of the vehicle (the company) and/or the insurance company that covered the vehicle that they would be compensated to move forward with the repairs in the first place.”

Bartlett Consolidated transported the fountain off-island and it was repaired by Cassidy Bros. Forge in Rowley, Mass. The Cassidy Bros. Forge team spent weeks "performing intricate welding repairs on the fountain," according to the town. "This included extensive stitch welding and brazing, followed by re-plumbing for water and electrical connections. The fountain was then steel grit blasted using refrigerated dry air and painted with Navy-grade marine paint to protect against corrosion. A custom light fixture from Penn Globe was added to complete the restoration."

It was reinstalled on Main Street on June 3rd by a DPW crew and private contractors.

“The only ‘cost’ to the town was the time spent by DPW staff on-site the day of the accident and the day of reinstallation - but no town funds were actually paid to anybody at all throughout this whole process,” according to Katie Cabral, the office manager and customer service representative for the town administration.