In a small ceremony Saturday, Tisbury’s newest park was dedicated with a gathering of town leaders, members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, shellfish constables of Tisbury and Oak Bluffs and others on hand.

Park swoops around Lagoon Pond beneath the drawbridge that was rebuilt two years ago.

Jeanna Shepard

Park swoops around Lagoon Pond beneath the drawbridge that was rebuilt two years ago.

Jeanna Shepard

Drawbridge Park swoops around and beneath the drawbridge on Beach Road. In addition to views of Lagoon Pond, Eastville jetty and the harbor, the new park offers glimpses into Tisbury’s past with new informational plaques.

Calling it “a little gem of a park,” selectman Melinda Loberg said the Lagoon Pond drawbridge is “not just for boats to go under and cars to go over, but for the people of Martha’s Vineyard.”

Rain and wind forced the celebration under the bridge temporarily (“Like trolls!” laughed Mrs. Loberg). It was noted that this was the only park on the Island that offers such shelter.

Selectman Melinda Loberg, Steve Zablotny, Henry Stephenson. Mr. Zablotny designed the informational plaques.

Jeanna Shepard

Selectman Melinda Loberg, Steve Zablotny, Henry Stephenson. Mr. Zablotny designed the informational plaques.

Jeanna Shepard

The park slopes down along the pond side of the bridge, widening toward the water. There are bike racks, a picnic table and benches where visitors can watch cormorants dive for fish and watch boats coming and going. The park allows pedestrians and bikers to cross Beach Road from below.

“It was important to the community to make this area as multi-purpose as possible,” said Bill Veno, senior planner at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission who worked on the Lagoon Pond drawbridge project, a long-running state project to replace the bridge that finished two years ago.

Informational plaques were designed by Steve Zablotny. According to one, it is estimated that 14,000 vehicles pass over the bridge on a busy summer day. The plaque gives a timeline of the Lagoon Pond Bridge.

History of drawbridge dates to 1870.

Jeanna Shepard

History of drawbridge dates to 1870.

Jeanna Shepard

The first bridge was built in 1870, and cost $5,700. The newest version, three bridges later, cost more than $41 million and was completed in 2016. For many, the opening of the new park on Saturday put the seal on the massive state project. Mrs. Loberg thanked all the people and organizations involved.

“I’ve been on the bridge committee for, well, half my life,” she joked.

Henry Stephenson, a member of the park committee, said work at the park still is not done. He presented drawings of future improvements, including moving a drainage pit underground and building areas that allow visitors to step down into the water. He said the park has the potential to be Tisbury’s Eastville beach.

“We’ve still got some more stuff to do,” Mr. Stephenson said.