Opening day for Brewster's First Light Beach draws plenty of interest and visitors

BREWSTER — Peter and Ellie Johnson rolled up to the gate of Brewster’s new First Light Beach before it even opened at 8 a.m. on Friday.

The very first visitors in the lot and on the beach, the Johnsons have lived full-time in Brewster for 23 years and know just how rare it is that new beaches open up anywhere on the Cape.

Peter, a member of the Brewster Conservation Trust, was thrilled to be there for the opening. He recalled the Trust looking at lots around town for years for use, but he never thought it would be this historic property.

“We, of course, were looking at all the property with big acreage in town that might be subdivided and developed. And so we had this on our list for years, but never thought it would happen in our lifetime, [that] there would be an opportunity to buy it,” Johnson said . “So when that came about, we were immediately ready to start our own fundraising efforts in support of it.”

'A unique opportunity'

In November 2021, the town of Brewster bought the property, for $26 million, that was home to the 99-year-old Cape Cod Sea Camps. There were two parcels involved in the deal, the combination of what used to be two separate camps — Camp Wono, a girls’ camp, and Camp Monomoy, a boys’ camp.

The camps transformed into one co-ed summer camp about 1975 , including what those involved with the project refer to as the “bay parcel” and “pond parcel.”

The parcels combined consist of more than 120 acres , complete with the remnants of camp traditions and infrastructure — cabins, outdoor amphitheaters, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a main house and an art house, among other buildings. There’s  plenty of open green space where campers practiced things like archery left behind as well.

While there are no long-term plans for the extent of the property in the works yet, according to Assistant Town Administrator Donna Kalinick, the town wanted to open up the beachfront access to Brewster residents because it was such a rare situation.

“It's really such a unique opportunity because when do you have an opportunity to create a new beach?" she said. "Like, there's just no land. That doesn't happen often.”

The town received approval for the beach plans in April 2022 and had contracts organized in May. The Brewster Department of Public Works began work on June 6 to create a new beach parking area, complete with signs, way-finding and an entirely new stormwater system. It took the team 24 days to complete.

“It was just incredible, between not just the parking lot, but last week, just getting the grounds you know, clean and weed whacking everything," Public Works Director Griffin Ryder said. "It's just it's such a huge property.”

An impressive show of support

Transitioning the property from a camp setting to municipal use is not easy, Ryder and Kalinick admitted, though they think the community interest in this property will help create something residents can really get use out of.

“The interesting thing about this property is that a lot of Brewster residents have never been on this property,” Kalinick said.

About 100 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday. Prior to the opening of the beach, there were about 600 attendees at a property open house hosted by the town in December.

During a single-issue town meeting in September 2021, about 1,500 residents showed up to vote on the purchase of the land. That was the biggest showing at a town meeting in Brewster town history, which was a strong indicator of how important it was to residents, Kalinick said.

Only the beginning

The new beach marks only the beginning of what the town hopes will become a community resource. This summer, the town will be hosting a few community events on the property, including movie nights and a band show on the front lawn.

Property Manager Ed Barker, who has been working at the property since 1976, said he sees an  opportunity to create a multi-use space to meet various needs of the Brewster community. There’s a strong desire in the community, Barker and Kalinick agreed, for the property to be an intergenerational, multi-use space.

“Certainly, there are going to be restrictions on no matter what property you look at, whether it’s water conservation or just the townspeople’s desires of what to get out of it,” Barker said. “It’s going to be different, it’s going to be multifaceted, and I think the property is big enough to handle a lot of needs.”

It will take, based upon Kalinick’s prediction, about 18 to 24 months for the town to figure out the next steps for the property.

In the meantime, First Light Beach is now open to Brewster residents only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. There are 51 parking spots, three of which are handicap spots; cars will not be let through the gate after 6 p.m.

Cyclists and pedestrians will be admitted regardless of resident status, and there are kayak and bicycle racks available.

Wampanoag tribal members, for whom the beach is named, may obtain free beach passes through the town’s online permit system. Applicants will need to upload a copy of their tribal ID card.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Opening day for Brewster's First Light Beach on Cape Cod