80-year-old man and his scooter first to cross Lexington’s rebuilt dam
Every day for months, the construction crew rebuilding the dam at Lexington’s Gibson Pond Park had a regular visitor checking in on their progress.
James Farnham didn’t work for the town or the construction company. The 80-year-old just wanted an excuse to get out of the house, so he would regularly ride his scooter the mile from his house to watch the crew work.
“I’ve seen the whole thing from the beginning,” Farnham said. “They built the dam from nothing.”
This week, Farnham got to see crews complete work on a 138-foot span of the dam, opening it to foot traffic for the first time and setting the stage for Gibson Pond to be refilled for the first time since the 2015 flood broke through its old dam.
The town park surrounding Gibson Pond was closed almost a year ago so that crews could complete the $5.2 million project.
“It’s one of the most iconic ponds in town,” Lexington Mayor Steve MacDougall said. “It’s a fun place to barbecue, because if you get hot, you can run and jump in.”
The journey was a good distraction for Farnham. Originally from New York, he moved to Lexington last year from Florida to be closer to his son after his wife of 50 years passed away. The former floor covering salesman said taking his daily trips down to the park helped him recover from the loss of his wife.
He made friends with Don Bruner, a neighbor from the other side of the pond who would also come down to watch the construction. The two quickly became well known to the workers on the project
“We became friends,” Farnham said. “They waved at me, and would come and talk to us. They were real friendly.”
On Wednesday, the crew made sure Farnham would be on hand when the span was finally completed and open to the public. MacDougall was on hand to see Farnham and Bruner be the first people to walk across. The retiree said the view from the top is “really beautiful,” even if it may still take weeks for the pond to fill back up.
The mayor was impressed that Farnham seemed to know everyone on the construction crew by name as he went over the dam.
MacDougall said the new dam has safety features, including a spillway and emergency valves that should allow the town to better control water flow and prevent a breach in case of another flood. He hopes to have a grand opening for the park by mid-June, and is already in talks with the state Department of Natural Resources to stock Gibson Pond with fish to catch off the new fishing pier.
“It shouldn’t take long” to refill the pond, the mayor said. “The water is already flowing heavily with the rain we’ve had around the state recently.”
When the park reopens, Farnham plans to be one of the first ones there again.
“I plan to have a good time for years to come going to Gibson Park,” he said.
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 9:18 AM.
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