Marginal Way: Ogunquit celebrates reopening of coastal treasure after storm damage
OGUNQUIT, Maine — Back in January, after two big storms lashed the coast, Fire Chief Russell Osgood expressed confidence that Marginal Way would be repaired and reopened to the public by the summertime.
Osgood had that right: the scenic, mile-long path is now open again, well before springtime.
“The Marginal Way has REOPENED!” the town declared on its official Facebook page on Saturday, March 2. “The closed signs and tape are being removed as we speak. We hope everyone enjoys the weekend.”
The two storms hit within days of each other, on Jan. 10 and 13, and caused significant damage along the Maine Seacoast.
Along Marginal Way, the storms eroded bits of pavement, sent rocks of all sizes in all directions, and caused other significant damage.
The most significant damage occurred at the Perkins Cove walkway, which got undermined, according to Town Manager Matthew Buttrick. Such erosion extended about six inches beneath the walkway’s edges and compromised the pavement along the edge.
Marginal Way sustained $1 million in damages during the storm, according to preliminary estimates, Buttrick said.
The Marginal Way Preservation Fund started raising money to help with the path’s repairs. The local nonprofit is charged with funding an endowment that finances projects that “repair, preserve and beautify” the walkway.
The town received the plans and scope for necessary and temporary repairs along the path in mid-February, Buttrick announced on the town’s Facebook page. Contractors and the town’s public works crew began the repair work on Feb. 20.
In the coming months, engineers will evaluate the path and finalize plans for making the essential permanent repairs. Such work will take place during the off-season and will be carried out in sections to avoid disrupting tourists and the community as a whole.
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The story behind Ogunquit's Marginal Way
The walkway has a rich history. According to the organization’s website, a conservationist and former state legislator named Josiah Chase, Jr. donated the mile-long coastal parcel to the town of Ogunquit in 1925. The paved path, which begins in a corner of Oarweed Cove, wends through bayberry, honeysuckle, and “bittersweet, gnarled shrubs of fragrant pink and white sea roses.”
According to the preservation fund, the path is called Marginal Way because of the pattern in which it was developed along the edge of local cliffs.
The landmark has survived much during its near-century of existence as a beloved public landmark – everything from hurricanes to residential and commercial development booms to local budget cuts, as the organization says on its website. The fund to protect and preserve the path was established after a storm in 2007 destroyed large sections of the path. Previously, a strong storm in 1991 also significantly damaged the property.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Ogunquit’s Marginal Way reopens after storm damage
