<p>The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank will expand its holdings around Ice House Pond in West Tisbury with the purchase of 22 acres off Lambert’s Cove Road. The seller is FOCUS, a Christian fellowship group with a campus nearby. The land bank paid $2.3 million.</p>
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank will expand its holdings around Ice House Pond in West Tisbury with the purchase of 22 acres off Lambert’s Cove Road.
Plans for the property call for creating a trail from the road to the pond that winds through the woodland.
Plans for the property call for creating a trail from the road to the pond that winds through the woodland.
The seller is Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools (FOCUS), which owns a small campus that will now abut the expanded Manaquayak Preserve. The land bank paid $2.3 million for the property; the closing was last week.
“It’s fully wooded, verdant and quiet,” land bank executive director James Lengyel said of the property on Pepperbush Way, an unmarked track off Lambert’s Cove Road near the entrance to FOCUS.
He also said the land bank plans to relocate the trailhead for the reservation to Lambert’s Cove Road. The current trailhead, nestled in the woods near the Lambert’s Cove Inn off Wintergreen Lane, well away from the main road, will become an access only for people with handicaps and the elderly.
“We wanted a trailhead right on the public road,” Mr. Lengyel said. He said the 11.5-acre property, whose centerpiece is a pristine glacial kettle pond, is limited to 20 people at any one time and fills up quickly. “People come in and find the trailhead is full have to turn around. [With the change] you could see that it’s full and go on to your next destination,” he said.
Verdant, quiet woodland will connect Manaquayak Preserve with Lambert's Cove Road.
Verdant, quiet woodland will connect Manaquayak Preserve with Lambert's Cove Road.
Plans for the property call for creating a trail from the road to the pond that winds through the woodland. “It refashions the access to Manaquayak,” Mr. Lengyel said. “It will be a beautiful hike.”
The property features an overlook to Ice House, also sometimes called Old House Pond, and another small pond called Rainwater Pond, which as its name implies, is not always full of water, Mr. Lengyel said.
He said the land bank has had its eye on the property for a number of years but was unable to pay for it; improved finances at the land bank recently made the purchase possible.
Comments
For several years, long ago,
Jill Abbott Honolulu, HIFor several years, long ago, I rented a house with access to Ice House Pond, one of the most magical, beautiful spots on the island. When I return to the Vineyard now, this is the one place I most like to be. Any move to protect the Pond and its environs is good news.
I can't see how the current
Carol Lashnits VHI can't see how the current trail is accessible to the elderly and handicapped. Hope you can figure out something better with even, level ground or a walkway with railings.
Congratulations!
Ruth Campbell West TisburyCongratulations!
I also agree that handicap access must be improved, as well as access to the pond itself for elderly and
Handicapped. I can swim just fine, but I need to wade in, and climbing up the ladder out is
Impossible. Understandably the pond needs protecting, but restricting access for older Islanders
Is discrimination.
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