Things will begin to return to normal in Menemsha next week when the town reopens the new West Dock, nearly 11 months after it was destroyed in the Menemsha Coast Guard boathouse fire last July 12.
Railings still need to be installed and the dock cleaned up before the public can use the pier, but Chilmark selectman Warren Doty said yesterday he expects the dock to open June 3. Electric and water lines still need to be installed after that and are expected to be done by June 15. Mr. Doty said commercial fishermen can begin using the dock on June 3.
C. White Marine was contracted to build the pier, and Power Electric will install the electric and water lines.
“It’s a record for a municipality to complete a project in 11 months,” Mr. Doty said. “We consider it a great accomplishment.”
The fire occurred in the early afternoon on July 12, a hot summer day in the height of the summer season. Menemsha village was packed with residents, tourists and fishermen when the fire broke out, ravaging the town dock and the Coast Guard boathouse and adjoining pier.
After seven months of investigations, the cause of the fire was determined to be unknown, but outlined three possibilities — a discarded lit cigarette, faulty wiring under the Coast Guard boathouse or faulty wiring under the Chilmark public pier. None could be singled out as the cause.
Voters readily approved $1.5 million to pay for a new town dock at a special town meeting in the fall, and Mr. Doty said the project has stayed within budget, save an additional $19,000 needed to take out a charred wave wall still in the harbor. The money is being taken from approved dock articles for the old dock that were never used.
The Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council awarded the town $200,000 in October toward rebuilding the dock, and the town will seek additional funds in the next fiscal year. Mr. Doty said they are still waiting to hear back from the government about insurance claims.
Meanwhile, the barge with the charred remains of the structures still sits at the end of the dock and will be taken away when the project is completed. Part of the blackened foundation of the boathouse is still in the water and echoes a sharp contrast between the new dock and the remains of the past.
The new Coast Guard dock is also done, and both the 47-foot and 25-foot search and rescue vessels have returned to the dock.
“It’s gorgeous,” station Menemsha chief Jason Olsen said. “We’re very thankful to the town to be able to accommodate us.”
But there still remains a hole in the Menemsha vista — a new boathouse is expected to be built, but not until 2013 at the earliest. A $10 million line item for the boathouse is in President Obama’s budget for next year, after which a design and building timeline will be put in place.
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