Officials from the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce and town of Tisbury commemorated the reconstruction of Owen Park Pier with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the morning of June 10, after a decade of planning.
About 50 people clustered together by the park’s shore to take in speeches by community leaders before the ribbon was cut.
The planning and execution of the project was a decadelong process spanning the tenures of three Tisbury harbormasters. The reconstruction process took three months and implemented improvements, including increased width and height, new dinghy floats, and more accessibility.
The $1.2 million project was primarily funded by a $1 million grant from the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council. The remainder of the expenses were paid through the Waterways Improvement Fund, revenue generated from Steamship Authority passenger tickets known as the Embarkation Fund, and Tisbury taxpayers. These sources of local funding actually generated a surplus of about $50,000.
Tisbury Town Administrator Joseph LaCivita praised the reconstructed pier. “Owen Park is going to be transformational as we go forward, because this pier allows us to expand a lot more than what we had in the past,” LaCivita said.
Tisbury Harbormaster Michael Gately said that the pier’s purpose as a conduit between people and the harbor remains since its initial 1938 construction.
“This pier has evolved alongside our harbor for nearly a century,” he said. “Today, this new pier is ready to continue that mission for generations to come. It will serve fishermen, local boaters, beachgoers, visitors arriving by water, and the countless residents and tourists who come here simply to enjoy Vineyard Haven Harbor.”
Gately reflected on the longstanding traditions perpetuated by the pier.
“When this project began, some of the kids spending their summers crabbing off this pier were still in elementary school. By the time this new pier reaches the end of its service life, many of them may be bringing their own grandchildren here to crab off the same waterfront,” Gately said. “That’s what projects like this are really about — not just replacing timber and pilings, but preserving a place where traditions are passed from one generation to the next.”
Musician Andy Herr, a co-founder of First Friday, a monthly arts and culture event that takes place in Owen Park, was in attendance at the Wednesday ceremony. With the reconstructed pier, he hopes that First Friday can resurrect its practice of hosting live music on a floating barge.
“My thoughts are maybe we could bring the barge back,” Herr said. “An unforeseen consequence of having music on the barge was that a lot of people congregated on the old dock, and the old dock was maybe not so ready to handle that.”