The Municipality of Bristol is on track to reopening its landmark pier in Norway Bay in time for this year’s cottage season, after keeping it closed due to safety concerns for the entirety of last summer.
At Bristol’s May 5 council meeting, mayor Brent Orr announced the municipality had hired a local welder to create a prototype for the new ladders required for the pier, which will soon be ready for testing, and said the municipality was hoping to be able to install boat docks on the west side of the pier at the beginning of June.
Following the meeting, Norway Bay Municipal Association (NBMA) president Patrick Byrne said the association is hoping to install its original docks on the east side of the pier by mid-June.
While an original engineering report conducted in the fall of 2023 suggested the structural integrity of the pier had been compromised to the point it was no longer safe for use, a more in-depth study, presented at the municipality’s April council meeting, found a couple of interim updates could be made to enable the pier’s continued use while the municipality worked on longer-term solutions.
“Basically out of security and liability concerns we had to close it. So this is reassuring in that we now have a little bit of time to be able to plan the revitalization of it,” said Bristol councillor Val Twolan-Graham, who is also a council liaison for the pier committee that formed last spring to work on long-term solutions.
The short-term fixes required include installing new ladders on the pier’s side so it is up to code, and repairing the sinkholes that have formed on the pier’s walkway.
“Certain standards have changed so we have to have more ladders welded, and there’s different specifications now,” Twolan-Graham said.
“The sinkholes have to be repaired on the pier, but the company didn’t feel that there was any kind of worries that would come from using the pier the way we’ve used it once those two major items have been repaired.”
She said once the high water levels recede, the municipality will be able to test its first ladder and make any needed modifications.
“I’m much more optimistic than I was a month ago. If the water level would just cooperate now, we’re hopeful that we’re going to have a more normal summer,” Twolan-Graham said.
Byrne, who leads the association responsible for managing swimming lessons and other activities for Norway Bay residents throughout the summer, said he was encouraged by what he heard at the May 8 council meeting.
“I think they’ve really done a great job of dealing with a really crappy set of circumstances,” he told THE EQUITY. “As the NBMA, it’s not our pier. And it’s not [the municipality’s] river either. We’re all trying to adjust to a rapidly changing set of circumstances. And they’ve done a great job.”
