WITH “GRAND RE-OPENING”,  MILLBROOK MEADOW AND MILL POND ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

 

            Rockport’s Millbrook Meadow and Mill Pond had a “Grand Re-Opening" August 17, 2019 with a ribbon cutting.  Senator Bruce Tarr and Rockport Selectmen officiated, and Sen. Tarr presented Millbrook Meadow Committee with a Senate Proclamation.

             In his remarks, Tarr noted the fog that hung over the Meadow, and he guided the audience through the fog of history, and recalled the arrival of his ancestor, Richard Tarr, and the first citizen of Rockport, in 1690.  He noted all the industries that operated on the grounds that are now the Meadow, then he recalled Lura Hall Phillips, who strode forth in 1951 to stop the pavers who were set to turn the Meadow into a parking lot.

             When Lura died in 1994, she left her house to be sold for the Meadow. That money, which had grown to over $182,000 by 2013, was used as the "seed money" to start the project now completed.

             There were popcorn, strolling miniature horses, Millbrook Meadow souvenir bandannas, nature explainers, music, and jugglers.  Then, Rockport’s annual Rubber Duck Race took place in the new Mill Brook.

            After two years, Rockport’s main park is open for visitors, with a brand-new playground, a 6000-pound granite whale, loads of new flowers, plants and trees, a Native Shade Garden, and a completely new Mill Brook that is a return to the historic brook. The Rockport Garden Club has created three new gardens.

            The Meadow is next to Front Beach. You can reach it on Beach Street, or via Mill Lane from Main or King Streets. 

            Richard Tarr, the first settler, arrived at Front Beach in 1690. Millbrook Meadow became the site of a grist mill in 1702, when the Town’s first two settlers divided their property at Mill Brook. Soon they built a lumber mill, sawing hickory and hemlock lumber and sending it to Boston to build Long Wharf. Then came a mill to process isinglass, used to clarify wine and beer, and workers made leather seats for buggies, and organs, and bobbins and spools for the textile mills, and boiling horse hooves to make glue. Residents complained about the smell! Finally, in 1932 the last mill closed, and the Rockport Garden Club bought the property.

            The Garden Club gave the land to the Town in 1938, and the Todd family gave the Mill Pond to the Town.  Garden Club President Lura Phillips continued to defend and build the park, holding fairs and festivals and celebrations of all sorts for over four decades.  

            In 2012  Rockport Garden Club and Millbrook Meadow Committee members looked at the Mill Pond, full of sediment and cattails, and the Mill Brook, which often flooded its banks, with many trees that were dying or in poor health. They determined to begin a complete restoration.  Gunilla Caulfield, Trustee of Lura’s  fund, arranged to donate the fund to the Town to provide the ”seed money” to start the restoration. The Town voted to add to this money, and with the Town Community Preservation fund and many private donations from citizens, private funds and businesses, preparations started in 2013.

            Milone & McBroom of Cheshire, CT did the work of studying the project, listening to what Rockporters wanted with their park, drilling for test samples, chasing down deeds, obtaining permits and designing the project.  SumCo Environmental of Salem did the dredging, and then restored the Meadow.  Rockport’s Department of Public Works has provided support and coordination throughout the restoration.

            The restoration  began with dredging the Mill Pond. Over 3000 tons of sediment and 5000 sq. ft. of cattails were removed, the granite edges rebuilt, a new stairway into the pond was built, and new grasses and trees planted. The smaller Frog Pond in the Meadow was also dredged and rebuilt.

            In 2018, SumCo removed the straight, granite-lined Mill Brook that has been in place since 1946 and built a winding brook, following the historic creek bed. They built new granite walls and installed stone and plant features all along the new brook to make it more suitable for plants, wildlife and human visitors.

            The newly built, winding Brook got a major test when the Friends of the Council on Aging released over 900 rubber ducks in the stream. This is an annual fundraiser for programs for Rockport’s elders.

            As before, Retired Rockport Police Sergeant Roger Lesch led a team to “arrest” the winning ducks, and all who come after, before they can flow under Beach Street to Front Beach.

            The “Millie” sculpture was carved by Thomas Berger of Kittery, Maine from Rockport granite. The whale and the new playground are both provided by private donations. 

            Shannon Mason, vice chair of the Meadow Committee, Laura Hallowell, Project Manager, Barbara Sparks, Art and Play Coordinator, Marcia Lombardo, Treasurer, Aileen Morrissey, Rich Lorigan, Charmaine Blanchard and Stephanie Woolf have all worked many hours, fund-raising, raking, cleaning, planning, designing and coordinating this project. Most have been at this task since 2012.

 

            “We are grateful to the people of Rockport, whose Community Preservation fund paid for two thirds of this project. Friends of the Meadow, including Lura, donated over $560,000,”  said Sam Coulbourn, Millbrook Meadow Chairman.  “Lura called the Meadow her ‘Magic Place’. We hope visitors will find it theirs, as well.” Coulbourn added.