The formal rededication of the $2.7 million Anthony B. Sapienza Memorial Track and Athletic Field at Haverhill High School served as a reunion Wednesday of family, friends and students of the late math teacher and cross country coach. His daughter, School Committee member Toni Sapienza-Donais, who served as mistress of ceremonies, told WHAV she was moved by the gathering. “It was emotional because I could just see my father smiling down on us to see, not only his children here, his grandchildren, his great grandchildren all remembering him over 30 years later. It’s just a wonderful experience to see it refurbished in his name and to see such a turnout after come all these years, that he hasn’t been forgotten,” she said.
Drivers along Interstate 495 in Haverhill have undoubtedly noticed multiple trailers with a long steel beam each recently collecting on the old southbound side of the highway. Beginning this week, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, those beams will be on the move. Two right lanes will be closed overnights, from Sunday to Thursday, May 20, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., on I-495 southbound, between exits 50 and 48.
Haverhill’s new Deputy Police Chief Stephen J. Doherty Jr. and Capt. Meaghan Paré were formally sworn in during a Thursday morning ceremony in City Hall. Mayor James J. Fiorentini said Doherty has big shoes to fill, noting the presence of recently retired Deputy Chief Anthony Haugh in the audience. “You’re stepping in to be one of the leaders of a great department that I’m so proud of that it will be one of the few departments in the state that will be federally accredited—up 22 people from where you were a few years ago—and I know you’re going to be a great leader in this department,” the mayor said.
A proposal for repair work at Haverhill’s William H. Moody School remains in limbo today because of a possible misunderstanding between Haverhill school administrators and the Massachusetts School Building Authority. At the last School Committee meeting, Haverhill Facilities Director Stephen D. Dorrance said the 107-year-old building needs some preventive maintenance to its roof, windows and heating system in order to avoid problems in the future. He said those particular issues make it a good candidate for the state’s Accelerated Repair Program which would cover much of the cost.
