By Mike Finney

DOVER — The historic Scull Mansion, which sits on the east side of South State Street across from Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus, has a new lease on life — at least for the next 18 months.

In a letter to Dover City Planner David Hugg dated March 25, Gregory Moore, vice president of the Becker Morgan Group architecture/engineering firm, wrote, “We agree to keep the structure on site for a period of 18 months from the April (Planning Commission) hearing allowing the Friends of Old Dover time to raise money and organize a move of this structure, or otherwise develop a resolution acceptable to Bayhealth.

“If after the 18 months the structure has not been relocated or otherwise resolved, we reserve the right to seek demolition.”

The Scull Mansion has been caught in the crosshairs of progress and historical preservation ever since Bayhealth officials last year announced their three-phase plan of building a 680-space parking lot on the site of the house, which sits at 625 S. State St.

The Italianate-style stucco building, built in 1863, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It currently serves as office space for Bayhealth.

The Friends of Old Dover historic-preservation group has been involved in efforts to save the Scull Mansion since last fall and has met with Bayhealth leaders on numerous occasions to seek a mutual solution.

Mary Terry Mason, president of the Friends of Old Dover, said she has already had discussions with moving companies to see if the building could be relocated but was informed that it would be impossible to do so.

“I do appreciate all the meetings that we’ve had with Bayhealth, and the Friends of Old Dover are very happy that we have another 18 months to get more information and try to find a solution,” Ms. Mason said. “Hopefully, we can preserve that house, and Bayhealth can have the parking that they need.”

Bayhealth currently has a master plan to expand its parking facilities to a location on South Street, which includes a parking garage.

However, there has been an ongoing flooding issue in that area, which made the Scull Mansion property even more attractive as a site for a parking lot.

The city of Dover told Bayhealth that it will be fixing the drainage issue at South Street and that design is underway. But until the flooding issue can be properly resolved, parking remains a problem.

Ellen Richardson, a member of the Friends of Old Dover, said the flooding has been occurring for many years at the South Street spot.

“It’s very clear that the additional parking is needed because the flood zone has not been corrected in downtown Dover,” Ms. Richardson said. “If that had been corrected, Bayhealth could build their parking garage. That’s the first issue.

“We would like to make it very clear (Scull Mansion) cannot be moved. So although Bayhealth has given us a grace period of 18 months to figure out how to move it, we have already checked with several building movers, and they told us the building cannot be moved due to the utilities, the age of the building, the structure of the building and so forth.”

John Van Gorp, Bayhealth’s senior vice president for planning and business development, said the hospital will continue to work with the Friends of Old Dover to find a solution.

“We have continued having discussions with the Friends of Old Dover, trying to come up with ways to meet our competing objectives,” said Mr. Van Gorp. “Obviously, those discussions continue, but we are committed to try to come up with some kind of resolution over the course of the next 18 months that tries to satisfy the needs for both parties.”

Dawn Melson-Williams, principal planner for the city of Dover, said the Friends of Old Dover sent a letter to the city’s planning office, saying the group would not object to Bayhealth’s application for the parking expansion that was reviewed by the city’s Planning Commission during a virtual meeting Monday.

“They are continuing to work with Bayhealth in regards to the Scull Mansion property,” Ms. Melson-Williams said. “They hope to continue to work with Bayhealth in a good-faith effort to find a resolution for this property.”

Desperate need for hospital parking

Mr. Van Gorp said the employees of Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus, are in desperate need of additional parking. The current number of staff there exceeds 2,000, but that is increasing. The parking facilities of the hospital must be able to accommodate shifts that require nearly 700 employees.

He added that not only is Bayhealth’s staff increasing, but the community that Bayhealth serves is growing, as well, so parking is a key need.

During the revised Phase 1 of the parking lot project, the Gates residence on the Scull property would be destroyed, as well as three other structures related to maintenance.

The Scull Mansion building is proposed to be retained for a period of reconfiguration of the existing parking lot layout and construction of 251 new parking spaces, for a total of 478 parking spaces on-site during the initial phase.

During Phase 2, the day care center on the Scull property would be torn down, and more than 70 new parking spots would be added.

The Surgery Center building would be demolished during Phase 3, and the final parking spaces would be added, bringing the total number of parking spaces to 680.

Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen said he is torn when it comes to the parking lot project and the historic Scull Mansion. However, he wrote a letter of support for the parking lot to Dover’s Planning Commission on Oct. 15, 2020.

“I am writing to you in support of Bayhealth and their proposed plan for expanded parking for staff and visitors alike,” the mayor wrote. “I must tell you that I have grave concerns about the demise of the Scull Mansion property. It is my sincere hope that a compromise may save this historic building and its charm. It is my sincere hope that some accommodation to preserve this elegant home can be formed.

“As Mayor of the City of Dover, I am charged with economic development which includes protection of existing jobs, revenues, the support of the expansion and retention of major entities, and the recruitment of new facilities of jobs. This plan does both and therefore I highly support the proposed project as presented.”

He added, “It is a map for future expansion of the workforce of Bayhealth and other jobs that will be generated in the public and retail sector. Also, the advent of this proposal will remove many of the current parking and transportation concerns, as well as, drainage issues in the area.”

Karen Horton was born and raised in Dover and said she has many memories of the Scull Mansion. She is against demolishing such a piece of the city’s history.
“As a child growing up here, I remember trying to memorize all of the details of this beautiful mansion because it was such an elegant and graceful building — it made such an impression,” Ms. Horton said.

Trying to protect valuable history

The reason the Scull Mansion is threatened by a parking lot is because the National Register of Historic Places designation that the house holds offers no protection from demolition — it leaves that action to local governments.
However, the house sits just outside Dover’s historic district, which would have offered the city review authority over its demolition.

Upon hearing the news of the possible fate of the Scull Mansion last fall, Dover resident Nathan Attard organized a petition to save it on the Friends of Old Dover’s Facebook page. It accumulated more than 452 signatures.

Mr. Attard said the style of the Civil War-era Scull Mansion was relatively rare in Dover due to the community’s interest in Colonial Revival designs at the time of construction.

“The Scull Mansion was arguably the grandest house in Dover for a century,” Mr. Attard wrote in an Opinion column that appeared in the Delaware State News on Oct. 15, 2020. “It was built in 1863 by Manlove Hayes, a Kent County farmer, steamship line owner, clerk of the Delaware Senate and state representative. It was passed on to his heirs, the Wilson family, who sold it to Sarah Scull and her husband, Dr. Carl Scull. Sarah Scull sold the house to Kent General Hospital (now Bayhealth), which has stewarded this structure ever since.”

Ms. Richardson continues to hold out hope that some kind of resolution can be reached that will save the Scull Mansion.

“As for the destruction of the downtown historical properties, I would be looking for the Planning Commission to preserve our historical heritage for Dover,” she said. “I would certainly hope that the Planning Commission is not looking to destroy our historical heritage.”