Push to reopen popular Cape Cod beach is an uphill battle

In a spot where people come to escape work, it is the work going on right now that holds the key to when one of Cape Cod's most popular beaches reopens.

"The way that they are going about it now is amazing," said Steve Bommer of Eastham, Massachusetts.

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During a particularly nasty nor'easter in September of 2024 wiped out the stairs at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet.

"There was nothing you could about it," said Frank Dobek of the Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore. "It was just a freak storm that came in and tore everything apart."

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The stretch of beach is no stranger to erosion. Storms destroyed the stairs, the only way to access the beach from the 500-spot parking lot of Route 6, in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 and twice in 2024.

As thousands soaked up the sun and sand on Salisbury Beach Wednesday, the erosion of coastal dunes in the area remains a concern for lawmakers.

"Our budget process isn't fast, and so our ability to quickly re-prioritize and pivot is difficult," said Jennifer Flynn, superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which includes Marconi Beach. "We had just expended a significant amount of money to put stairs in in the spring to only have them be washed away five months later."

With more great days popping up as the calendar turned towards spring, a real urgency came to get the money needed to start the project. Wood needed to be purchased, plans drawn up, and the ground needed to be prepped.

"The question was 'Could we do it?' and the feeling was 'Yes, we can,'" said David Bernstein of the Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The nonprofit put out the word, and the donations started flooding in. More than 200 donations raised the $125,000 needed to build new stairs.

"We raised it quicker than we ever thought, and we were able to order the boards and everything early so that we could beat any price rises," Bernstein added.

On Friday, crews were back on the beach, working to get the stairs built, with real hopes everything will open by this summer's busy season.

"This is such a special place," Bernstein said. "One only has to look at the view, and the sand."