To the Editor:
After reading the final decision about the new seawall design for Oak Bluffs, I find it appalling that the town choose to go with a sheet steel wall. A beautiful cement seawall was built at the jetties’ end of the beach. I can only picture this steel seawall design to be an extension of the harbor bulkhead. Over time when it starts to rust, how inviting will this wall look? There is something about a smooth, cement wall that invites a person to lean back and relax. Maybe, in years to come, the town may even put back the worn-out groins, breakwaters that used to keep the beach from washing away. Old postcards from the late ’40s through the early ’60s show a beautiful sandy beach with a light-colored cement seawall and several groins going out into the water.
All the sheet steel I have seen is always black, because of the protective coating. But this coating will break down and peel over time, and then it’s all rust. And, I’ve been told, there
will be only two staircases to the beach. One at each end of the beach. Years ago, there was one in the middle. And there will be no stairs from the new public fishing pier to the beach, to help land any big fish you catch at the end of the pier. I thank whoever donated the fishing net for the pier, but wish good luck to the first-time user.
Robert Gatchell
Oak Bluffs