TAUNTON — On July 1, the gate that has blocked off the main road into Massasoit State Park since 2008 will be open to the public, and DCR staff will once again be present and ready to help visitors enjoy their outings. While this seems to be the only good news to come for the park since 2008 when all funding was pulled, some state legislators, volunteers and park visitors are all hoping this is only the beginning.
While the park is still open to the public, since 2008 when lightning struck the once thriving campground located at Massasoit, severely damaging electrical systems there, all funding was pulled from the park. Staffing was subsequently pulled, and the main road that once allowed easy access to the nether-regions of the park was closed, meaning visitors would have to take a 30-minute hike or longer to access many parts of the 1,500 acres.
Though many parts of the once pristine park have either become unkempt or fallen to vandalism since 2008, State Representative and Lakeville resident Keiko Orrall says it hasn’t stopped all visitors from frequenting.
“Even today, if you go by you’re likely to see maybe 20 cars in the lot,” said Orrall. “It’s a hidden jewel that still gets a lot of interest from different groups and it’s an important thing to keep up. It’s a big point of interest for our area and there’s a lot of people rooting for things to happen there.”
While Republicans and Democrats don’t always see eye to eye, the state park seems to be one issue where they do — at least Orrall and Democrat State Senator Marc Pacheco. The two started working together when talks began with the Taunton Municipal Light Plant (TMLP) about possibilities for working on the electricity for the campground — the most costly need in terms of reopening that part of the park. Pacheco, as past chair of the Senate’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee, also was instrumental in putting together a major environmental bond bill that could help the state parks.
The bill, H. 4375, “An Act for the Preservation and Improvement of Land, Parks and Clean Energy in the Commonwealth”, is the largest environmental bond bill in state history. It was enacted by the Patrick Administration on August 13 of last year.
“When it comes to tough budget years, recreation and these types of things are the first to go. So the problem at Massasoit is not just here — this is happening in a lot of places across the commonwealth,” Pacheco said. “So at the last session when I was chair of the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee, we put in place a bond authorization for $2.2 billion. It’s been enacted by legislature and by the previous administration so the administration now has the means to do these types of projects if they choose to do so.”
In terms of talks with TMLP, Pacheco says they’ve gone well, bringing the price tag down some from what DCR thought it would take to restore power at the campground.
“DCR originally had a price of over $3 million to do electrical work there for the campground. When Keiko, the leader of Friends of Massasoit State Park and I had a talk with the manager there at TMLP one day, we started talking about different possibilities to handle at least the major issues and their prices came to under $300,000,” he said. “We’ll be reaching out to electrical unions in the region about working with them through their training programs to get some of the work done.”
With many people still using the park, or at least parts of it, the terrain still requires maintenance, and with no one on the state’s payroll to do so, it fell on residents to take care of Massasoit. Middleboro resident Chuck Kowalker answered that call and continues to find others who are willing to follow suit.
“My wife and I taught our kids how to ride their bikes there, and we did a lot of hiking on the trails. It’s a great little getaway that’s close by,” he said. “So I started hearing about these other ‘Friends’ groups that go around other state parks and help maintain them, but there was none for Massasoit so my wife said, ‘Well, why don’t you do it?’”
After taking his wife’s advice, Kowalker says momentum built quickly, attracting the attention of DCR, which encouraged the group to continue their work cleaning up after litter, vandalism, downed trees, and anything else possible to keep the park a pleasant place to visit.
“DCR came out one day when we were having one of our cleanups and they were blown away. We had about 75 people that day, it was about 90 degrees out and people were there working for hours. I think that really showed DCR we weren’t a fly-by group. We were serious,” he said. “So basically they’ve told us, keep doing what you’re doing and something will happen, and now it’s great that something is happening.”
Kowalker says that while not all aspects of the park are in tip-top shape, the terrain there remains ideal for various activities, mountain biking being one of them.
“We would go around and see trees down everywhere, but when you walked the trails we noticed they were taken down by chainsaw. Eventually we met who was doing it and it was these mountain bikers who were keeping the trails clear because come to find out, Massasoit is a preferred mountain biking destination around here. It’s hilly and has a large network of trails. So their group became part of our group,” he said.
“We have schools we work with, Scout groups, officials, equestrians — we’re a very diverse group at this point, and very informal. Some ‘Friends’ groups are very formal and have boards and everything, but I just tell people, if you can give even an hour a year we’ll take it. Grab a rake or whatever you can and join us out there.”
Pacheco says he, Orrall, and others will continue to stay on top of the situation at Massasoit State Park, citing another state park in Taunton as an example of how things can be turned around for the better.
“The next steps now are trying to get things fixed incrementally like we did with Watson’s Pond. A plan was made to release capital funds a little at a time, we redid the beach, some of the parking area, and ended up getting some seasonal employees. So it’s a full-service park now and that’s the type of thing we need to do as Massasoit,” he said. “There’s still a lot to do to get it to the point of full utilization again with people fishing, boating, camping, but we have a good beginning here.”
“I think it's great that they're reopening the road,” said Middleboro native Hanna Littlefield, now a Bridgewater resident. “I think it'll encourage more people to visit the park and explore the area, since they won't have to walk the mile or so to the ponds or other deeply wooded areas.”
Littlefield added that she hopes upon the road reopening that drivers will be cautious of those who walk and run the road regularly as she does once a week.
“My kids are really excited it's reopening! We love our hikes down there and fishing but it will be much easier to venture without the long walk in the main road,” said Middleboro resident Nicole Heffernan.
To join or learn more about Friends of Massasoit State Park, email Chuck Kowalker at ckowalker@gmail.com or search “Friends of Massasoit State Park” on Facebook.
Friends of Massasoit State Park will host a cleanup/picnic at the park on June 20, 9 a.m., first meeting in the parking lot. Massasoit State Park is located at 1361 Middleboro Ave., Taunton.
