Kudos to the Camden library trustees for their stance on the Montgomery Dam, and for going public with it as the vote approaches. 

When I was involved with the library, we spent uncountable hours discussing every aspect of the matter — the pros and cons of keeping the dam, removing it, reducing its height; and the impacts of these actions on the town, the harbor and of course Harbor Park. 

Naturally, people asked for our recommendations. But at the time, not so much was known about the potential effects of removing the dam, nor did we have any renderings of what the results might look like. We decided we could say only that, as trustees, our responsibility was to maintain Harbor Park in line with the wishes of Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who created the park for us all. Therefore we would defer judgment until we knew much more about what removing the dam would do to the park. 

Now we know. Our signature falls will not go away. Harbor Park will be larger, not smaller, because it will expand into the intertidal zone (where my kids always played anyway, back in the 1980s), and more accessible and even more attractive. It will also be able to withstand the king tides, onshore winds and storm surges that cause so much damage to the current seawall, walkways, landscaping and benches. 

Furthermore, improving Harbor Park should be the catalyst for getting serious about protecting the entire harbor from rising water and more frequent and severe storms. 

Since my time there, the library’s special Harbor Park Committee, the trustees and the executive director have invested many more hours in deliberating on this issue. It’s gratifying to see them make such an unequivocal decision and recommendation: 

“A YES vote on Article 7 presents the best opportunity to ensure that Harbor Park, where the mountains meet the sea, remains a place of beauty and enjoyment for all people, forever.” 

Silvio Calabi lives in Camden