BELFAST — The Belfast Harbor Walk has been open to the public since about June. Informally, the clipped string of alleys, sidewalks and parks has been passable for much longer. Nov. 9, however, the city gave the path a proper grand opening ceremony, complete with speeches and a ribbon cutting with giant scissors.

Around 100 residents gathered at Steamboat Landing to mark the occasion. In a circular plaza that anchors the southern end of the path, a feature that brings to mind the beginning of the Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard of Oz or the graphic punctuation of a station stop on a train map, city officials and others spoke of the history of the waterfront and what some saw as a new milestone that would be noted by future generations.

City Councilor Mike Hurley described the sleepy street leading from High Street to the Boathouse as the I-95 of its time. Today all that remains of the former hub for passenger and freight ships, rails and roads are the names: Steamboat Landing and Commercial Street.

Belfast historian Megan Pinette noted points with historical significance along the walkway, most requiring an imagination for buildings and people no longer around.

City Manager Joe Slocum envisioned the $1.5 million public works project as an investment in the public trust that would pay dividends down the road. In the future, he imagined residents saying: they were smart to do this back in 2013.

Even today, it’s easy to see how the planners of the Harbor Walk seized upon a quickly closing window.

As City Planner Wayne Marshall noted Saturday, the project has roots in the 1995 Downtown Renaissance Plan. But the Harbor Walk that exists today took shape at the same time as the development of Front Street Shipyard. Marshall and other city officials have worked closely with the shipyard to allow retention of as much waterside public access as possible — a balancing act that has had to consider the waterfront activity of the business but also requirements imposed by state and federal agencies that have funded portions of the project.

The south end of the Harbor Walk, which takes an inland detour around buildings owned by Consumers Fuel and French & Webb boat builders, stands as a reminder of what can be lost along the way. Much of the Harbor Walk follows the corridor of a rail spur that lead from the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad station on Front Street to Steamboat Landing. At one time, the tracks passed directly through what is now Heritage Park to Steamboat Landing, but the easements, including the last block of Miller Street, were given away over the years.

The Harbor Walk is still awaiting some signs and kiosks, and city officials are working on adjustments to the lighting, which many residents have found too bright. 

Some of the benches are more comfortable today than when they were first installed, thanks to Mayor Walter Ash. Early negative reports about the benches had city officials considering grinding off the sharp edges. During a marathon vigil outside the polls on Election Day Nov. 5, the mayor — a car mechanic by trade — noticed that the backs and seats had been accidentally reversed when the benches were installed. That problem has since been fixed.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com