City of New Castle

Memorial Day Holiday Notice

City of New Castle
City Holiday Notice
Memorial Day Update
Date: May 19, 2020

City offices will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2020 for the Memorial Day Holiday.

For the revised Public Works schedule, click here.

Resident Notice – Delaware Street Paving Project (Update)

City of New Castle
Resident Notice Update
Delaware Street Paving Project
Date: April 21, 2020

The City has recently been informed that the work set to begin on Wednesday, April 22, between Third and Fourth Streets by City contractor Cirello, has been delayed until the week of April 27, with an expected start date of April 28. At this time any scheduled road closures will be postponed until that week.

The City’s contractor Cirillo Brothers will begin replacing the street curbs on Delaware
Street between 3 rd Street and 4th Street.   The contractor will
need to close one or both lanes of Delaware Street to vehicular traffic between 3 rd
Street and 4 th Street each day to perform the work.  The contractor may also
close the sidewalk on the active construction side of this section of road where
they are working to not endanger the public, but the sidewalk on the other side of
the street will remain open.  All closures will start at 8:00 am and be reopened by
5:00 pm each day and no closures are scheduled to occur on weekends.  The
work is estimated to take between three and six weeks. Multiple unknowns do
not allow for a more precise schedule.

During the lane closures, multiple warning signs will be placed and flaggers will
be positioned at the intersections to allow one-way traffic to pass, or to direct
traffic to detour around the construction.  The City understands that this may be
inconvenient to some but with one-way traffic on area streets, this was
determined to be the best approach.

Residents are asked to obey the flaggers’ instructions.

Of course there will be no parking on Delaware Street between 3 rd Street and 4th
Street, during these times. Parked cars will be towed.

The repaving work on Delaware Street will last for many months and will
necessitate both temporary lane restrictions as well as full closures at varying
times.  The City will provide more information for both as the project progresses.

Please Help the City by Completing the Parking Survey

The City Planning Commission formed a subcommittee to study parking. That subcommittee is conducting a parking survey.

Paper surveys were included along with the December MSC utility billing. Survey recipients are encouraged to complete and return the surveys no later than the deadline of January 11.

In lieu of submitting a paper survey, respondents may complete the survey online, by the January 11 deadline, by clicking on the link below:

http://surveygoldplus.com/s/D856CE1A16424E0C/46.htm

 

City Pier destroyed by Superstorm Sandy

What is left of the New Castle City Pier is shown in a debris pile on the wharf at the end of Delaware Street.
See A Full Hurricane Sandy Special Report

HMS Bounty anchored off New Castle

In mid-June, the HMS Bounty stopped overnight and anchored in the Delaware River off the New Castle City shoreline.

City Charter changes fully approved, adopted and in effect

Governor Markell signed HB 307, the final step in approval and adoption of Charter changes for the City of New Castle. The Delaware Senate and House of Representatives had previously approved HB 307, each in a unanimous vote. Click on the following link to read the full text of HB 307 – Charter changes for the City of New Castle:

New Charter for the City of New Castle

The Old Library Museum

The Old Library Museum is just one of many museums and historical buildings found in Historic New Castle.

Photo courtesy of the New Castle Historical Society.
The Old Library was built by the New Castle Library Company in 1892 on land purchased by the Company from the Janvier family, who lived in Harmony House – adjacent to the library lot on its north side.  The Library is currently not open to the public.

The Company, chartered in 1812, had housed its collection of classics and law books in the Academy (built in 1799) across the street. Originally, the Company was private: borrowing privileges were limited to members and, it is believed, students at the Academy. By the late 1860s, the schoolroom was no longer large enough to house the growing number of books.  Still, it was more than 20 years before a new library was constructed.

The subscription-based library was open only intermittently following World War I.  In 1942, the Company rented the building to the recently formed New Castle Library Commission.  State aid was granted, and for the first time the community enjoyed a free library that was open to everyone of school age or older.

The “new” library, at Fifth & Delaware Streets and designed by Albert Kruse, opened in 1965.  The Old Library was used by the sculptor Maurine Ligon as her home and studio from 1965 until her death in 1979.

In 1982, the Trustees of the Common renovated the Old Library, and leased it to the New Castle Historical Society as a meeting place, library, and museum.

Research on the building itself continues.  It is very likely that the building was designed by Philadelphia architect, Frank Furness.  Its style – with its fine proportions, rich and varied brickwork, leaded glass, and woodwork  – is typical of his work. Furness was an architect of many excellent buildings in the Philadelphia / Wilmington area, among them Recitation Hall at the University of Delaware (1891) and the Wilmington Train Station (1905).  The building cost about $5,500 to erect, including plans supplied by Furness, Evans, & Co.

In the early 1980s, a paint analysis was completed on the exterior of the building.  The current exterior colors – brick red, toffee, and apple green – are close to the building’s original colors.  The Victorians were fond of using rich earth colors in surprising combinations that were a backlash against the whites and creams used in the first half of the 19th century.

Beautiful fall foliage in the VanDyke Village neighborhood

City Public Works crews are now performing leaf collection operations. There is no set schedule for when leaves will be picked up on various streets. Residents are asked to rake leaves to the edge of their lawn or sidewalk or curb, to be collected by leaf vacuum trucks. Residents are asked to take special care to not rake leaves so they are in the street, blocking the sidewalk and/or storm drains.