ROCKPORT — Drivers along Route 1 near the intersection of Main Street in Rockport were double-taking Tuesday afternoon, as big equipment began knocking down trees and digging into a pond adjacent to Maine Sport Outfitters, the local outdoor adventure retailer.

The pond that lies between Route 1 and the store is a natural focal point for northbound and southbound travelers throughout the year: In the winter, the ice there is often filled with hockey players and skaters, well into the evening; in the summer, kayakers are often seen testing their skills there before taking to rivers, lakes and the sea.

The pond was created in 1988, when the store was built. This week, contractors are removing six trees and cattails that have grown up alongside it, and an excavator is digging into the banks of the pond, pulling up dirt and mud. 

Stuart and Marianne Smith are owners of Maine Sport Outfitters and in permit applications filed at the Rockport Town Office they specified that the dredging is to remove accumulated silt and return the pond’s depth to its original dimensions. 

After the town dug sewer lines along Route 1, the pond silted up from highway project, said Stuart Smith, over the phone. Additionally, sand and salt also leeched into the pond from Route 1 over the course of many winters. The last dredging was in 2002, but to a shallower depth than what is now under way.

“This dredging is needed to facilitate the use of the pond for the retail operation,” the permit application said.

The dredge material is then to be trucked up the road to the Maine Sport Warehouse property, on an adjacent piece of Rockport property, where it will be dumped.

Other project tasks include:

Replacing an existing fence near the pond’s dam;

Removal of discontinued parking lot lights;

Replacement of existing retaining walls along walkways;

Placement of rocks along pond edge adjacent to the store;

Rebuilding of wooden dam platform.

There will also be picnic tables placed on the pond’s edge.

The Smiths received two permits from the town: excavation and vegetation clearing.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657