The Salem City Council on Thursday, April 9 settled the operating hours of the Haunted Warren Museum at 259 Essex Street at 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and turned back an effort to let the attraction stay open until 1 a.m. on weekends.
The council had already held a hearing on the museum’s extended hours. Ward 2 Councillor Andrew Smith brought the matter back on a reconsideration motion, adopted 10 to 0, so that the approved hours would match the city’s ordinance. Ward 7 Councillor Andrew Varela then moved to allow 11 p.m. on weeknights and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, arguing that Gulu Cafe, 80 to 100 feet away, serves alcohol and stays open until 1 a.m. “This body is setting a very dangerous precedent of not being business friendly,” he said, adding that the question belonged with the Licensing Board. Ward 6 Councillor Katelyn Holappa said the museum deserved a trial period at 1 a.m.
Ward 5 Councillor Lydia King said she was “not thrilled that we are rehashing something that we already decided in a hearing” after the ward councilor had worked out a compromise with the neighborhood. Ward 1 Councillor Erin Turowski noted that Gulu closes at 8 p.m. on Sundays. Council President Alice Merkl reminded the body that the item was a reconsideration to comply with the ordinance, not a new hearing. Varela’s amendment failed 3 to 7, with Varela, Holappa and Councillor-at-Large Kyle Davis in favor, and Smith’s hours were adopted with Varela opposed. Councillor-at-Large Ty Hapworth was absent for the meeting. Two weeks later the council received and filed a petition opposing the Annabelle exhibit and Warren Occult Museum in Salem.
Committee meetings at 5 p.m.?
An order by Varela to let council committees meet as early as 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. passed its first reading 7 to 3, with King, Councillor-at-Large Conrad Prosniewski and Turowski opposed. Varela said work schedules are no longer nine to five and that department heads sometimes wait two hours for a meeting. King said she works nine to five and suggested 5:30. Turowski said the Port Authority already meets at 5 and that remote participation from a train is a poor substitute. Smith said the rules already allow an earlier start by committee vote. The proposal died on April 23: an amendment to 5:30 p.m. failed 4 to 6, Varela withdrew the order, and a motion to send it to committee tied 5 to 5.
Kielbasa Square
On Holappa’s order, the council named a veterans square at the corner of Harrod and Irving streets in Ward 6 for Sgt. William Anthony “Boley” Kielbasa, killed in action on December 30, 1944. A dedication was planned for the 2026 Memorial Day ceremony.
Congress Street meters denied
On the recommendation of the Committee on Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs, the council denied proposed parking rates and a new meter zone on Congress Street between Pickering Way and Ward Street. Varela said many Pickering Wharf employees park there and the city’s October rates are steep. Turowski said it was “disingenuous” to charge residents and employees while tour buses park free year round across the street; the tour bus permit ordinance followed two weeks later.
Also at the meeting
- The council approved the city’s application for an estimated $1,080,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for fiscal 2027, with language refusing federal conditions that have been enjoined. Varela recused himself.
- Second and final passage for the October resident sticker parking fines, which apply from September 15 through November 1.
- Mayor Dominick Pangallo named Sabrina Trask of his office and former Councillor Lev McClain to the 2026 Sam Zoll Civic Leadership Award selection committee.
- A proposal to raise fines for failing to clear snow and ice from sidewalks stayed in committee, and Varela’s order for a review of the council chamber use policy was adopted after audio and video problems earlier in the week.
- Two $4,000 and $3,500 donations for Salem Common benches were accepted; appointments of Sean Lunde to the Board of Health and Leigh Chandler to the Sustainability, Energy and Resiliency Committee were held to April 23, when they were confirmed 10 to 0.
The minutes are here.
