EAST LYME — Agreements supporting two Black Point waterfront projects have been finalized, the Black Point Beach Club Association said in its announcement for an October 22 grant-award event.
The projects are backed by $505,250 in matching state grants: $400,000 for eastern waterfront pier and groin repairs and $105,250 for the Pattagansett Estuary pier project. The Connecticut Port Authority listed both awards to East Lyme on behalf of the association in its March 24 Small Harbor Improvement Projects Program announcement. The October announcement concerns the finalized agreements, rather than newly discovered March funding.
Patch’s October 22 account of Rep. Nick Menapace’s announcement puts the two projects’ combined budget at $1.037 million. It describes an $800,000 shoreline repair project addressing deterioration, pedestrian safety and erosion along Niantic Bay.
The second project, budgeted at $237,000 in that account, would provide a new accessible pier, overlook and floating dock with a kayak launch on the western side of Old Black Point Road. The planned uses include paddling, birdwatching and environmental education.
The association’s own infrastructure page says an earlier informal marsh walkway was removed around 2004 after the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection determined it was unpermitted. It describes the 2025–26 effort as a new approach to permitted estuary access.
These funding announcements do not establish that the new dock is complete or open. The reviewed sources also do not settle visitor parking or general beach-access rules; readers should check the association’s current guidance before planning a visit.
The file photograph shows Black Point’s main beach and shoreline structures in an older association gallery. It does not show the October 22 event or completed work under the new grants.