Markey, Warren seek reprieve for artist ordered to leave Provincetown dune shack
‘We respectfully request that the National Park Service consider all available options to legally allow Mr. Del Deo to reside in Frenchie’s Shack.’
Three federal lawmakers are urging the National Park Service to ease up on an order that 94-year-old artist Salvatore Del Deo vacate the Provincetown dune shack that he has helped maintain for 77 years.
Senator Edward J. Markey on Friday delivered a letter to the agency — co-signed by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Bill Keating — urging National Park Service Director Charles Sams to allow Del Deo more time, as well as a chance to enter a public application on par with that which has been offered to other occupants of dune shacks along the Cape Cod National Seashore.
“Like so many artists before him, Mr. Del Deo’s time in the dunes has helped him contribute to the artistic and cultural vibrancy of the Outer Cape, the Commonwealth, and the Nation,” the letter said, noting Del Deo’s eight decades of work to maintain and preserve the shacks, “for the enjoyment of future generations.”
In March, the National Park Service instructed Del Deo to vacate the dune shack known as “Frenchie’s,” one of 19 that make up the storied artist colony on the seashore. The agency attributed the order to the 2016 death of Jeanne “Frenchie” Schnell’s heir. A surviving daughter shared the cottage with the Del Deos before moving to Tennessee. The family says she supports their continued occupancy of Frenchie’s Shack, and that Frenchie willed the cottage to them, a status disputed by the Park Service.
“Recognizing Mr. Del Deo’s connection to the dune shack in which he resided, the original owner of Frenchie’s Shack, Jean “Frenchie” Schnell — a titan in the effort to preserve the Seashore and the dune shacks — granted him access to the shack and sought to maintain Mr. Del Deo’s connection to the shack beyond the expiration of her family’s lifetime lease,” the letter continued.
The Democratic lawmakers requested that the Park Service consider a wider range of legal options in order to maintain Del Deo’s shack occupancy, and offer him permission to extend his time in the cottage, as well as the chance to apply for his spot. The order runs parallel to a Request for Proposals launched in May, which invited the public to apply for
which invited the public to apply for a ten-year-lease in one of eight dune shacks. The Schnell shack is not among them, but is likely to appear for future bidding.
“Even where the transfer of a lifetime lease to another party may not be possible, we respectfully request that the National Park Service consider all available options to legally allow Mr. Del Deo to reside in Frenchie’s Shack,” the letter read. “In particular, we urge the National Park Service to grant him an applicable time-limited Special Use Permit(s) until such time that an open and transparent request for proposal process can be completed for Frenchie’s Shack that both aligns with the Dune Shack Preservation Use Plan, applicable laws, and regulations, and also allows Mr. Del Deo or his family to apply.”
The dune shacks predate the institution of the National Seashore, and Del Deo’s wife, Josephine, advocated for the creation of the park in 1961, and later, the preservation of the shacks themselves as dedicated Historic Places.
The agency’s Use Plan, published in April 2011, notes that in case of an occupant’s death during the terms of their lease, the agency would provide a special use permit to “a family member or kin of the deceased,” on a yearly basis, until a public selection process may be conducted.
The family has been instructed to turn over their keys and remove belongings by Tuesday.
“For generations the austere shacks have given dune dwellers access to the stark beauty and quiet solitude of the dunes and the commanding shores of the North Atlantic,” the letter read, noting how the dune dwellers themselves form a “mystique” that, in part, draws global tourism to the Cape. “These dune dwellers have been instrumental in the movement to preserve the Seashore, which strikes to the core of the National Park Service’s Mission.”
As of Friday, the Del Deo family had not read the letter, but had spoken with a member of Markey’s staff. “What they’re trying to do is get a dialogue started, and that’s a very good thing,” said Romolo Del Deo.
Tracey O’Toole, Chief of External Affairs for National Park Service Region 1, confirmed via e-mail that the agency had issued notifications to vacate to two dune shack occupants.
“The NPS recently became aware that two dune shacks, not currently offered for lease, were being used by individuals without legal authority and we have subsequently notified them of the need to vacate,” she said.
“We recognize individuals occupying the dune shacks without legal authority to do so are disappointed by these changes.”
She said that the 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.”
“The remedies that NPS could offer are prescribed by law and regulation and are limited,” said O’Toole.