Like a set change between acts, the Vineyard Playhouse has been in a feverish state of transformation this winter. Now, with construction ahead of schedule on the new $2 million expansion and renovation of the Vineyard Haven venue, the playhouse board of directors has voted to continue construction through the summer, while kicking its fund-raising effort into overdrive. As a result, there will be no performances this summer in the historic 1833 meeting house, but Vineyard Playhouse executive director MJ Bruder Munafo said it’s for the best.
As the federal government presses ahead with plans to develop wind farms on a 1,300-square-mile plot of ocean south of the Vineyard, on Monday night the Island had its turn to have a say about it.
Representatives from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, accompanied by members of the Gov. Deval Patrick administration and Cape and Islands Rep. Timothy Madden, came to the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven Monday to solicit public comment as part of a call for information announced on Feb. 6.
It was an unusual week in front of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for the developers of a $1.1 million, 210-killowatt solar canopy project over the parking lots at Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven. Last Thursday commissioners wondered aloud why there wasn’t more opposition to the project, then on Monday the commission announced that it faced a possible conflict of interest and would likely delay a vote on the project.
As the troubled Tisbury emergency services facility finally nears completion, the town selectmen were frustrated this week to learn of additional charges to a project already over budget.
On Tuesday emergency services facility building committee chairman Joe Tierney told selectmen that the town owed the architectural firm and project manager HKT an additional $21,000 for work related to problems with the building’s envelope. Selectman Tristan Israel reacted less than favorably.
The stage is now set for the development of a massive swath of ocean south of the Vineyard, as the federal government pushes forward with plans to open a 1,300-square-mile plot to wind farm developers beginning 14 miles offshore.
By PETER BRANNEN
As New Bedford once again pushes for freight ferry service to the Vineyard, at least one man can be relied on to be a hawk-eyed observer. An inveterate letter writer and frequent contributor to the Gazette, W.R. Deeble has kept a close eye on the machinations of the Steamship Authority’s leadership since its inception, as the pendulum of influence has swung from the mainland to the Islands and back again.
