The Cape Porpoise Pier renovation project began in 2024 as an effort to revitalize a crucial factor in the local fishing economy. (Courtesy of Town of Kennebunkport)

Kennebunkport has wrapped up an $8.6 million renovation of the Cape Porpoise Pier, which supports approximately 50 commercial fishing vessels and is home to several restaurants.

The town will mark the occasion with a formal ceremony Wednesday morning.

The pier had a number of structural flaws that were exacerbated by years of storm surges and extreme tides, the town said in a news release.

Work on the project began in the fall of 2024, with designs by GEI Consultants and construction by Prock Marine. It included replacing the bait shed, building a new harbormaster office, and expanding and rehabilitating the commercial pier.

The Cape Porpoise Pier in Kennebunkport in 2024 prior to an $8.6 million renovation. (Kennebunk Post file photo)

Town Selectman Allen Daggett is a lobsterman and owner of the Cape Pier Chowder House on the pier. He’s been buying and selling lobster there for 51 years. Over that time, he’s seen numerous upgrades and changes to the pier, but he called the most recent project a complete overhaul. 

“They’ve done a great job,” Daggett said. “I’m gonna tell you, it’s a state-of-the-art pier. It’s probably one of the best piers, one of the best locations to have up here in the state of Maine.”

He said equipment had been wearing out over time, including the bait shed, that was reaching such a point of disrepair that the town considered getting rid of it entirely. 

With funding for the project coming from federal and state agencies, including the Maine Department of Transportation’s Small Harbor Improvement Program (SHIP) and the Working Waterfront Resiliency Grant Program, the town’s share totaled $1.4 million.

Construction often posed a bit of a challenge to the businesses on the pier because it took up so much space, but it was “a hundred times well worth it,” Daggett said.

“Prock has been very kind to go ahead and help the lobstermen,” he said. “They’ll move equipment when they have to so the lobstermen can get in and unload their product, whether it’s bait, or lobsters or whatever. They’ve done everything they can to be accommodating.”