SOUTHWICK – A group of people gathered in Southwick on Thursday morning to tour the new floating boardwalk on the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail off Rising Corner Rd.
The entire property of this section of the trail is owned by the town while Kestrel Trust owns the conservation restriction for the trail. The floating boardwalk rests in the middle of the swamped area of the trail and spans 240 feet.
According to Michael Zloger, who is the volunteer trail crew leader for the Appalachian Mountain Club, the work on the floating boardwalk started just before Labor Day.
Volunteers from the Appalachian Mountain Club along with other volunteers were able to complete the work of the boardwalk in the last few weeks.
The process for replacing the floating boardwalk began much earlier than this past September. About 20 years ago, a developer wanted to buy the property which encompassed the trail, but learned the land wasn’t conducive enough to develop. The issue was brought to the town and the town decided to get an appraisal on the property.
The floating boardwalk was created to help replace the past bridge that was there. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
The appraised value of the land was about $300,000 so the town purchased it based on the fact that the Appalachian Mountain Club would maintain the trail.
During that time, the bridges going across the swamp area began to deteriorate, got unsteady and formed into an uneven footpath crossing.
As Mass DEP sets the guidelines for the types of bridges, a helical pier bridge was originally required.
However, prior to the replacement project starting, the DEP changed their standards and told the Appalachian Mountain Club that a floating bridge would be the latest requirement.
In order to gather funds for the project, the town of Southwick started by putting up $70,000. The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, which pr0vides several types of funding for communities in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties, was able to assist with the funding for the project.
Sheila Toto, who is the Senior Program Officer at the Community Foundation, explained that they submitted an application to one of their grant programs and funding was allocated towards the project.
While Toto noted that their foundation doesn’t regularly do work with projects in the Westfield and Southwick area, she was very pleased to see it happen.
“Having an environmental project in the Southwick area was extremely compelling,” said Toto.
Heather Clish, the Director of Conservation and Recreation Policy for the Appalachian Mountain Club, discussed the significance of the New England National Scenic Trial, which is the official name of the trails in the area, including where the floating boardwalk is located.
Several members of local organizations were present to represent their efforts with the new floating boardwalk. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
The New England National Scenic Trail helps the Appalachian Mountain Club with funding to help support projects on the trail such as this.
Southwick town official Dennis Clark, who is the Chairman of the Conservation Commission and a member of the Conservation Preservation Committee, also helped with the project.
For Clish, standing on the floating boardwalk and seeing it fully complete, makes her reflect on what made this project such a success.
“It’s gratifying for me to see,” said Clish. “It helped pull at these pieces together, it’s all that coordination that makes something like this happen.”
According to Clish, the plan is to have a groundbreaking dedication event for the floating boardwalk at some point in the spring of 2017.
