Ogunquit's Select Board is considering locking the Perkins Cove drawbridge in its raised, open position for the coldest stretch of the winter. Boats could keep moving in and out of the Cove, and the walkway across the channel would close until spring. The town's own October 6 agenda states the tradeoff plainly: the bridge would be secured open "allowing vessels to pass while closing the pedestrian crossing."
The reasoning behind the proposal is mostly about July. Every argument made at the board's October 20 workshop came back to one risk. If the bridge fails in January, it could stay broken through the busiest months of next year. Losing the crossing for a few cold weeks is the price of lowering that risk.
A working harbor needs the bridge raised twice a day
The footbridge serves walkers and boats, and in winter the boats still need it. At the October 20 workshop, according to the town's Ogunquit This Week bulletin for October 23, the Harbormaster explained that a fishing vessel now needs the bridge opened at least twice a day. The board chair added another point. As a federally improved commercial harbor, Perkins Cove comes with a town obligation to provide access by water.
That puts the hydraulic system to work in the coldest weather of the year. The same bulletin reports the Harbormaster's warning that running the hydraulics in below-zero cold risks "a catastrophic breakdown that could leave the bridge broken all next summer." If the bridge is locked raised, the fishing boat gets its passage and nobody has to cycle the machinery at 5 degrees. Walkers give up the shortcut for a while.
The harbor this bridge serves is busier than its size suggests. In her 2026 season report to the board, Harbormaster Erin Gott called it an incredibly busy summer for Perkins Cove, with no incidents, sinkings or emergencies. Here are the numbers from that report:
- All 65 seasonal moorings were filled in 2026.
- Short-term stays rose about 11% compared with the year before, while overnight transient stays dipped slightly.
- The harbor hosts an estimated 800-plus visiting boats a year.
- Crews hauled and launched 18 boats, added four new pilings to strengthen the inner docks, built a new dock that will fit four more small boats next year, and refitted the harbor's ice-breaking boat.
Next season is expected to hold more boats than this one. That makes a bridge stuck down, or stuck halfway, in July a bigger problem than it would have been a few years ago.
The summer breakdowns are the reason for the plan
The Police Chief and a fire department representative both supported locking the bridge open for the winter. The bulletin says they pointed to the traffic and pedestrian-safety problems the Cove has had during past summer breakdowns.
Those problems are easy to picture because of the bridge's position. When she announced federal funding for the bridge in 2023, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins called the footbridge at the entrance of Perkins Cove "a key connection that provides the only southerly access to the numerous small businesses, restaurants and shops located in and adjacent to the Cove," as Construction Equipment Guide reported. When it stops working in August, the foot traffic it normally carries has to go somewhere else, and in peak season that means a crowd. In February the same closure inconveniences a much smaller number of people walking the off-season Cove.
The Harbormaster's proposed window runs from about January 1 to the end of March. Those are the months when the hydraulic risk is highest and the cost to walkers is lowest.
An 85-year-old bridge with a design contract and no published construction date
The footbridge dates to 1941, which makes it 85 years old. Its replacement has been in the works for years. In April 2023, the same Construction Equipment Guide article reported that $2.85 million in federal funding had been approved for a project to reconstruct the footbridge and the Harbormaster's quarters.
On February 4, 2025, the Select Board voted 5–0 on a consent agenda that approved VHB for final engineering and design of the Perkins Cove Harbormaster Building and Footbridge. The minutes of that meeting also show the condition of the existing structure. The chair said they were concerned about whether the bridge would last another year. The Harbormaster described keeping fabricated parts ready so repairs could be made as needed.
That was more than a year and a half ago, and the bridge is still working with the help of those parts. The town's recent public materials don't give a construction start date for the replacement. So the current bridge has to get through at least one more winter, and probably another summer after that. The lock-open plan is an attempt to keep it in working order until the new one is built.
What happens between now and January
The bridge's busiest stretch of the off-season comes before the proposed closure starts, and the weeks between now and the new year are already on the calendar around the Cove:
- Sunday, November 1: The Ogunquit Museum of American Art ends its 2026 season, and its exhibitions American Conversations and Carl Sprinchorn: All the World is a Painting close the same day. On October 15 the museum announced the acquisition of a large-scale sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas, a reason to watch for what's on view when it reopens. November 1 is also the final day of Small Town at the Ogunquit Playhouse.
- Tuesday, November 3: Voters take up the warrant articles at a Special Town Meeting. No one spoke at the board's October 20 hearing on those articles.
- December 2 to 20: The Playhouse lists Mary Poppins as its holiday production.
- Friday, December 11, 5 to 6:30 p.m.: The town bulletin lists a Christmas by the Sea gathering at the Cove with Santa, cookies, cocoa and music.
- December 11 to 13: The Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce hosts the 40th annual Christmas by the Sea, which includes tree and bridge lightings, concerts, craft shows, children's activities, a parade, a bonfire, fireworks and Santa. As of the Chamber's October update, the full 2026 schedule and event map were listed as coming soon.
- About January 1: The start of the Harbormaster's proposed lock-open window, if the board adopts it.
Christmas by the Sea is the one place on this list where the winter plan affects a tradition directly. Public comment at the workshop included a request that the bridge stay in working order through the festival. The chair suggested leaving the exact dates to the Town Manager. A January 1 start would keep the bridge crossable for the December 11 Cove gathering and for the rest of the festival weekend.
Questions still open before anything is locked
The board took no vote on October 20. Several parts of the plan are still unsettled:
- The dates. The Harbormaster's suggestion of about January 1 through the end of March is still only a suggestion. The chair indicated the final window would be left to the Town Manager.
- Public comment. Select Board member Heath Ouellette asked that the plan be publicized and that the public get another chance to weigh in. The Town Manager agreed to give notice of a follow-up workshop, and no date has been announced yet.
- A summer contingency. Public comment also included a call for a winter workshop on what the town would do if the bridge fails in the middle of summer. That would be planning for the exact scenario the lock-open proposal is meant to prevent.
On October 6, when the board set up the workshop, it also asked that the Harbor Committee be invited along with the Harbormaster and representatives from Police, Fire and Public Works. The follow-up workshop is where those groups and residents will settle the details, including when the walkway closes. Notice will appear in the town's Ogunquit This Week bulletin, on Select Board agendas, and as part of the town's normal meeting notices.
The Perkins Cove footbridge is one of the town assets we think about whenever we talk with people who own near the Cove or are considering it, because its condition affects how a summer in that part of Ogunquit goes. If you'd like to talk through what the bridge's future, or any other harbor or town project, could mean for a property you own or are watching, the team at Williams Realty Partners is glad to help. Let's Connect.
