Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Gov. Patrick, Sen. Joyce, Other Officials Attend Houghton's Pond Bathhouse Opening

By Adam Roberts

State and local officials, including Governor Deval Patrick, attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new Houghton’s PondBathhouse in Milton on Monday, July 9. The new facility is part of a $4 million project at the Blue Hills Reservation recreation area.

The new 4,500-square-foot bathhouse, which was funded by the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Capital Fund, replaces a similar structure that was built in 1968.

Patrick, who is a Milton resident, referenced the infrastructure investments made by the “Greatest Generation” after World War II during his brief address in front of the new building.

“It’s time for us to make the kind of investments the generation before us did,” Patrick said, adding his administration has restored more than 60 parks and created over 50 new parks during his time in office.

Over the past five years, the Commonwealth has invested $230 million in land conversation.

“The Patrick-Murray Administration has recognized the importance to working families to have these facilities in their backyards,” DCR Commissioner Edward Lambert said Monday.

Besides Patrick and Lambert several other officials provided remarks before the ribbon was cut, including: Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard K. Sullivan, Jr., Milton Board of Selectmen Chair Tom Hurley, Friends of the Blue Hills President John Sheehan, State Representative Walter F. Timilty and State Senator Brian A. Joyce.

The new three-season bathhouse holds 23 toilets, a lifeguard room, a manager’s office, a first aid station, a boat room, secure storage, two family toilet rooms and outdoor rinsing and changing stalls.

The project also made beach access much easier, eliminating the high concrete walls that bordered the pond’s beach before. With the addition of outdoor terraces to replace the walls, new erosion controls, like new plantings were installed.

While the bathhouse is now open, the final stage of the work, a universally accessible nature boardwalk along Marigold Marsh, will be completed by the fall.

During his remarks, Timilty summed up the project and the new amenities.

“[Houghton’s Pond] is a treasure and it’s being brought to the next level with this bathhouse,” Timilty said.