Historic Fort Restoration & Trail Improvements at Winter Island

Historic Fort Restoration & Trail Improvements at Winter Island

Fort Pickering and Winter Island park work to start June 17-26, then resume in fall

SALEM, MA – In 2014 the City of Salem was awarded nearly $300,000 in grant funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts PARC program and the Salem Community Preservation Committee to implement a long-planned vision to restore and preserve the historic Fort Pickering, conduct important archaeological surveys, and create a perimeter walking trail along the Park’s waterfront. The City funded an additional $50,000 to advance the project.

The Salem Parks and Recreation Commission will meet tonight, June 16, to review the proposed plan developed by Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture to implement these improvements. Site work is scheduled to begin on June 17 with approximately six days’ worth of site preparation, including clearing invasive vegetation around Fort Pickering and elsewhere in the park. The project will then stop work for the duration of the summer season in the park and resume again in the fall when the City will conduct a topographic and archaeological survey to prepare for subsequent stages of the project.

The first European fortifications on Winter Island were constructed in 1664. In 1794, after the nation became independent of Great Britain, the fort was ceded by the Town to the federal government, which constructed a new fortification, completed in 1799 and named in honor of Salem’s own Colonel Timothy Pickering. Pickering had served in the Revolution and was then the U.S. Secretary of State.

The fort has played important roles in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War II.  It contains extensive archaeological remains, even potentially pre-dating European presence, and is included in the Winter Island Historic and Archaeological District that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Currently this historic resource is almost completely hidden by the extensive overgrowth of invasive vegetation that obscures the topography of the site.

This work is the first step of the larger project to restore the Fort and make the park much more accessible to the public at large, creating a bike path along the water and opening space up for use that is currently overgrown. Subsequent phases will also include a topography survey, conditions report, restoration plan, and the actual restoration of the fort.

The scenic trail and fort restoration was originally envisioned in a 2003 study process conducted by Mass Historic and the City of Salem. In 2011, the Winter Island Master Plan reiterated the value of having a formal scenic trail around the park perimeter and the need to mitigate the over-run of invasive vegetative species to help stabilize the historic fort moats and allow the native plants to better flourish.

The scenic trail will include wayfinding and historic signage, to help explain the story of the park and the fort. Volunteers, including the Friends of Winter Island Park and Salem Sound Coastwatch, have worked to remove invasive species annually, but the vegetation is highly persistent.  Archaeological investigation will also be conducted, using ground-penetrating laser technology, so that no excavation will be necessary.

The goal of this work, ultimately, is to fulfill several of the key findings in the 2011 Master Plan.

“The remaining ramparts of Fort Pickering should be stabilized and protected from further deterioration through manage of access, vegetation, and use,” the report states. “Remaining interior spaces should be stabilized and restored to the extent appropriate for historic preservation… The Fort Pickering moat should be restored to an extent that will preserve remaining components and restore an adequate amount of additional embanks to represent its original character and intent, while allowing crossing points and access to the remaining and restored elements of the Fort…”

“To the greatest extent practical, the entire perimeter of the Park should be made accessible with a walking path adequately broad to also allow bicycle use according to the Salem Harbor Master Plan,” the Winter Island Master Plan continues. “This walkway should respect the edges of the island to minimize runoff and any impact to the shoreline habitat while also creating informal links to the shore edges. The path should directly connect to the existing walkway at Winter Island Road. An interpretative walking trail should be created and maintained that links interpretive exhibits, viewpoints, artifacts, and resources to explain the heritage of Winter Island Park and relationship to the surrounding Harbor and community.”

“I am very excited about the commencement of this important improvement for Winter Island,” said Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll. “We have been discussing and planning how to make this public treasure more open and accessible to all for many years. We’ve also long sought a plan to restore and preserve the historic Fort Pickering, so that it can be enjoyed by generations to come.”

“This work marks the first of many positive changes, upgrades, and historic preservation efforts at Winter Island,” said Ward 1 City Councillor Bob McCarthy, whose Ward includes the park. “I’m looking forward to this project getting started and for its continued forward progress to restore Fort Pickering and make it a more open and vibrant public space for all.”

“Salem Sound Coastwatch applauds the City for the Fort Pickering restoration,” said Barbara Warren, Executive Director of Salem Sound Coastwatch. “Invasive plants such as the oriental bittersweet overwhelm our native plants and strangle trees until all that is left is a mass of green vines. The fall orange berries might look pretty, but they contain little nutritional value for the animals that might eat them.”

The planned work will have no impact on the summer 2015 season for Rebel Shakespeare Company, the summer youth theater program at Winter Island, or the summer activities of Sail Salem, the Salem community boating program, including the USODA New England Championship Regatta happening in August. The City will work with Rebel Shakespeare to try to accommodate the program’s continued presence beginning in 2016 at another location in Winter Island or at another City park should they choose to re-locate from Winter Island.

Photo: One of the historic Fort Pickering moats, overwhelmed by invasive plants, including bittersweet and phragmites. The restoriation work will help native species to re-establish themself in the park.

Attached: June 16, 2015 presentation by Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture Inc., to the Salem Parks and Recreation Commission, concerning the proposed historic fort restoration and trail work. The Commission is scheduled to meet on June 16 to review and approve the proposed scope of work.

Previous reports and studies about Winter Island are available here under “Winter Island Master Plan.” For more about the park, click here.