A Look At The Partridge Island Project

One thing that has changed over the past year in Lynnfield is that Partridge Island is once again accessible via the boardwalk trail, thanks to the restoration project funded with considerable help from the Lynnfield Rotary. The original boardwalk was built in 1976 as part of that year's Bicentennial celebrations.

This provides some background information and links to previous articles on the project. At this time last year, the rebuilt stretch of boardwalk was still about 150 feet away from Partridge Island.

A handful of photo galleries from the spring and have also helped share this area of town conservation land with local residents. 

Richard Wolniewicz of Mass. Audubon managed much of the restoration project over the past year - and the finishing touches at least for this part of the project can now be seen in the form of safety guardrails along the boardwalk

Those who visit the boardwalk regularly may also notice the numbered sign posts that have been set up by Lynnfield Eagle Scout Mike Welter. The signs are meant to point out some of the plants and birds that can be spotted in the marsh. A visit to the marsh will also reveal that some of the local knuckleheads have already managed to vandalize at least one of them. (see photos)

Despite all these improvements over the past year, there may be some additional work waiting to be done in the marsh in the future. Specifically, those who walk to Partridge Island will quickly come across a stretch of old boardwalk that resumes about 20 or 30 feet after one leaves the new boardwalk and steps on to the island.

Crossing that old stretch of boardwalk is like something from the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." You're basically taking one step at a time onto old boards just submerged under a couple of inches of black and heavily silted water - in other words, each step is a leap of faith that there will actually be something below your feet.

Beyond this point is the observation tower that was featured in . Outside of some graffiti, the structure is in fairly good shape compared to the old boardwalk parts.

Since the Lynnfield Rotary raised much of the money for this project, I checked in with current President Jay Kimball to see if there are any plans in the works to upgrade the remaining old pieces of boardwalk.

Kimball reported that the Rotary has finished funding the current phase and that with the completion of some remaining tasks such as the safety rail, he would like to see the organization start funding the next stage of the project, which would complete the full boardwalk repair and which could also see some repairs to the lookout tower as well.