CHATHAM – A popular tourist attraction in Chatham will most likely not be open to the public for the Fourth of July.
Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson recently provided an update for the work at the municipal fish pier and said he does not anticipate the new observation deck to be ready before the holiday.
“It may be up, but it may not be finished enough or have temporary certificate of occupancy in time for July,” Duncanson said.
The deck typically sees a few thousand visitors every day during the summer to watch fishermen offload their catch.
Along with the new observation deck, the $1.6 million project included replacing underground fuel tanks.
Weather delays in April and a fuel contamination discovered near a sump have pushed back the completion date for the project multiple times. The original deadline in May was pushed back to June 26.
A new construction schedule has been submitted by the contractor, Sciaba Construction Corp., but it had not been reviewed by town officials.
Duncanson said the focus of the contractor is to get the pier ready for fishermen, including getting fish hoists operational by the end of the week and repaving the parking lots next week.
“They are really scrambling now to get everything done to get the fisheries operations back in in full swing and not impede those in any way shape or form,” he said.
Duncanson said the concrete pad on the upper parking lot over the new fuel tanks has been poured. The contractor anticipates paving that lot by the beginning of next week.
“I’ve spoken with the DPW and they are going to be on standby as soon as the paving is done to get in there and stripe it,” he said. “Weather permitting, we hope to have the upper parking lot pretty much back in shape by the middle or end of next week.”
Duncanson said he anticipates the contractor will be looking for a time extension on the completion of the project. Town officials will look into the reasons for the delay and determine if financial penalties are appropriate.
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