EASTPORT, Maine — The absence of a U.S. Navy vessel for the Independence Day celebration here this year highlighted the need to repair the damaged breakwater, according to a local official.
One of the traditions of what the community touts on its website, www.eastport4th.com, as the “largest 4th of July festival in the state” has been to have a Navy ship visit the harbor.
“This year it didn’t happen and next year it will not happen,” Chris Gardner, executive director for the Eastport Port Authority said Tuesday.
The harbor could not accommodate a ship because the breakwater collapsed Dec. 4, 2014, into the inner harbor, injuring one man, sinking a boat and damaging numerous other vessels. Efforts to rebuild the breakwater began in April and will not be completed until the summer of 2017.
The five-day-long Fourth of July celebration this year still featured food, a craft fair, competitions such as bike races, a parade and live music.
But without the Navy vessel visiting, “it was like we had lost an old friend,” Gardner said. “It was a definitive moment to show how much we miss that structure.”
Gardner said the fishing community has been dealing with the loss of the breakwater since the day of the collapse but now, because of the absence of the Navy ship during the festival, the general public has a better understanding of what was lost.
“It’s almost like they just realized there’s no breakwater,” he said.
Efforts to repair the breakwater continue. The first stage of repairs involves excavating and stabilizing the area under water and driving new sheet piles for the approach.
“Visually people may not have seen much,” Gardner said, referring to the work done thus far. “Once you start seeing new things, you’ll start seeing more new things … and that will build up all the way to completion.”
He acknowledged the project has faced some delays, mostly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration “on the finer points of permitting.
“We’ve been working through those details,” he said.
Although the issues have caused some delays, Gardner said he is still optimistic the project will be completed on time.