SQUARE DEDICATED TO FITCHBURG ICON
FITCHBURG » The intersection of North and Main streets was dedicated as Gerry Martel Square on Wednesday morning, recognizing the beloved late longtime city resident and business owner.
“Thank you for coming out for my very best friend Gerry Martel,” Joe Byrne said to the large crowd.
Martel, who earned the affectionate nicknames “Mr. Car” and “Mr. Fitchburg,” died in his sleep at home on Feb. 28, 2019, a week after his 91st birthday.
For more than 50 years, Martel owned and operated the Fitchburg Music Store at the intersection, saving it from bankruptcy when he purchased it in 1957. He moved to the city and was considered to be the top classic car appraiser in the country.
The ceremony was attended by local and state officials including state Sen. John Cronin, Mayor Stephen Dinatale, state Rep. Michael Kushmerek, several City Council members, Fitchburg Housing Authority Executive Director Doug Bushman and Martel’s widow Nadine “Toddy” Martel, along with dozens of other people. The proceedings were broadcast by Fitchburg Access Television.
Byrne thanked the co-signers of the petition that made Martel Square official, City Councilor Amy Green, who signed it when he was on his way to City Hall to drop it off, Kushmerek, and “of course my better half,” his wife Lynda Byrne, FHA Board of Commissioners Chair, and the City Council “for passing it unanimously.” He recalled talking “about Gerry’s exploits” at his friend’s memorial service at Christ Church five years ago and how the idea for the square came to him.
“When his store right here where you’re standing was torn down … a little bit of his legacy was gone,” Joe Byrne said, adding that when Martel’s music store moved to a different lo
cation “more of his legacy” disappeared. He said the square is now “part of a legacy this man well deserves,” and that when people who may not know who Martel was see his name and look him up online, they will find out what a “kind and generous man” he was.
Jose Rodriguez from the Department of Public Works threw down the rope attached to the tarp covering one of the two bright red signs designating Gerry Martel Square to DPW signs shop supervisor Michael East, who said he is passing along his job to Rodriguez. Dinatale welcomed everyone and commented on the “great turnout,” which reminded him of the attendance at Martel’s 90th birthday celebration in 2017.
“He was the prototype of Fitchburg home-grown,” Dinatale said before thanking Joe Byrne “for pushing this petition through” and the council for passing it in recognition of “one of Fitchburg’s finest.” He presented Toddy with a citation as did Cronin and Kushmerek, and when Kushmerek spoke after Cronin the tarp fell on him.
“That’s Gerry playing tricks on us,” someone from the crowd quipped amid laughter from the crowd.
Kushmerek said “people knew about the city for three reasons” when Gerry Martel was a Main Street business owner — Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg Art Museum, and “that awesome record store” that kept people coming back to the city.
“(Gerry) epitomized a generation who served their city,” Kushmerek said.
Martel was born at home in Gardner in 1927 and graduated from Gardner High School before serving in the Navy during World War II. He returned to his business studies at Holy Cross in Worcester, pursuing a career as a drummer and entertainer in New York City. When that didn’t pan out, he decided to return home and start a business.
In addition to music, Martel had a passion for cars, a love that started when he was a young boy. He opened a custom auto body shop in the city called SCARS CARS for antique, classic, and antique car restorations focusing on upscale makes such as Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche and Rolls-royce. In 1976 he appraised his first car and opened Gerry Martel’s Classic Carriages and Collector Car Appraisals, which moved from the first Main Street location to the Upper Common area in 2012 and is still operating today as Gerry Martel Certified Appraisers.
During his lifetime he collected over 100 classic cars, including a 1958 Bentley Continental Flying Spur once owned by Alfred Hitchcock, and according to his obituary at the time of his death Martel was thought to be one of the oldest car appraisers in the country. His flamboyant and fun-loving personality and style preceded him everywhere he went. After he died, his wife of 44 years was interviewed for a Sentinel & Enterprise story that was picked up by the Associated Press where Nadine said, “He really was a special person and one of a kind. He would always look like a million bucks.”
The couple met through a music organization headquartered at the music shop and became a blended family of six, both having two children each from previous marriages, and they liked to travel and attended music conventions together. Martel was a columnist for the Sentinel & Enterprise, writing more than 500 “Auto Biographies,” and was honored as a lifetime member of the Mid- State Antique Auto Club and enjoyed traveling to car shows around the country.
He served on the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School advisory board for over four decades and helped the school’s auto body and collision repair program flourish. Martel served as president of the Fitchburg Rotary Club in 1967 and was an honorary president in 2017 and was a dedicated member and supporter of The Fay Club, Oak Hill Country Club, the Finnish Center and Saima Park, and the Fitchburg Art Museum, of which his wife is the longest- serving member of the Board of Trustees.