The public fishing pier at Lower Wharf, at 1085 Harbor Road where Southport Harbor opens to the Sound, was closed for nearly four years. On September 21, 2026, the Town of Fairfield's capital projects page posted a one-line update: "The project is complete and the Park is now Open to the public."
The pier came back at the end of summer, too late for crabbing days or July evenings. It opened a few weeks before the state's fall blackfish season began on October 10. Two things about it matter more than the ribbon-cutting. Fairfield rebuilt it to look like the old pier on purpose, and its first open stretch is late October and November.
Forty-Five Months, In Order
The gap was long, and most of it was spent on permits and money. Very little of it was construction.
- December 22–23, 2022. A storm with gusts over 50 mph and a destructive surge damaged the piers and the access walkway. After the Town's engineering and risk management officials assessed it, the pier was formally closed to the public.
- May 2023. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection approved the rebuild. RACE Coastal Engineering was named design consultant and project manager.
- July 2023. As a safety precaution, the Department of Public Works took up the decking. The bare pilings stayed in the water while the Town looked for funding.
- March 2024. Federal approval arrived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- June 7, 2024. The Connecticut State Bond Commission approved $1,073,778 in aid, administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development.
- April 6, 2026. A contractor was selected and mobilized equipment at the site, with removal of the old piles first in line.
- August 21, 2026. The pier was finished and the new seawalls were in place. Irrigation, sod and new benches were still to come.
- September 21, 2026. The park reopened.
The physical work took about five and a half months, from mobilization in April to reopening in September. The rest of the 45 months went to approvals and assembling the funding. In its September 24 newsletter, the First Selectperson's office described the finished project as "a new fishing pier, reconstruction of the seawalls, and significant improvements to the surrounding park area," and said a ribbon-cutting was being planned for mid-October.
Rebuilt to Match
In a December 19, 2025 letter to Harbor Road residents, the Harbor Management Commission said the replacement "essentially duplicates the earlier structure," with Americans with Disabilities Act improvements added.
Even "the earlier structure" took some choosing. The Town's 2024 state bond request described two configurations, the smaller L-shaped pier that the storm damaged and the original T-shaped pier. It noted that the L-shaped portion could be built alone if the full funding didn't come through. The same document set out the goal as public visual and fishing access to Southport Harbor "for persons of all ages and abilities."
Town documents give the cost two ways. The May 2024 bond request, backed by State Senator Tony Hwang, put the total at $1,235,900 based on an engineer's opinion of probable cost. The capital projects page lists an estimated project cost of $800,000. One figure was written before the work went out to bid and the other came during construction. On either number, state aid covers most of it.
Why a Copy Was the Point
The bond request calls the Lower Wharf "a landmark passed by sailors leaving the harbor for ports near and far for more than 250 years." In a May 2023 update, the Harbor Management Commission dated the first wharf on the site to the late 18th century, when it served a commercial shipyard.
The harbor's trade grew from there. Pequot Library's exhibition guide Sloop Logs and Ledgers records that Fairfield voted in October 1799 to deepen what was then Mill River Harbor. By 1825 the local fleet counted one brig, five schooners and 20 sloops, carrying grain, lumber, flour, apples and hay. The guide credits the Southport Globe Onion with the village's 19th-century growth. The onion trade declined in the 1880s, and the harbor's commercial role faded in the early 20th century. Fairfield Museum and History Center material on the Town's history page records Southport harbor exports reaching 100,000 barrels a year by the 1890s.
The property came into public hands much later, and through neighbors. The Harbor Management Commission's December 2025 letter recounts that in 1999 a group of Southport residents made a considerable donation so the land could be given to the Town. The deed sets the terms:
"used as a public green for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of Fairfield and others"
The site sits inside a National Register historic district and is held under a deed that makes it a green. A faithful rebuild with accessibility added fits both. Anyone who has dealt with the Southport Historic District's review process will recognize the approach. The landmark keeps its familiar look, and the change goes into how people reach it.
The First Season Back Is the Fall One
A pier that reopened on September 21 missed summer entirely. That left autumn as its first full season, and autumn on Long Island Sound is blackfish season. These are the rules on the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's 2026 species regulations page for species with open seasons in late October:
| Species | 2026 open season | Minimum length | Daily limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tautog / blackfish | October 10 – November 28 | 16 inches | 3 fish |
| Striped bass | Open year round | 28 inches to under 31 inches | 1 fish |
| Black sea bass | May 16 – November 25 | 15.5 inches | 4 fish |
| Scup / porgy, from shore | May 1 – December 31 | 9.5 inches | 30 fish |
That makes November 28 the date to watch. When this post goes up on October 22, blackfish season has a little more than five weeks left. That's the first stretch of shore fishing from this pier since December 2022.
DEEP's striped bass rules also require an inline circle hook when fishing with bait. Lures are exempt. The agency's licenses and permits page says a marine waters license is "required for anyone 16 years of age or older fishing from shore or from a boat in the marine district," and marine licenses expire December 31. DEEP notes that the 2026 changes affected only black sea bass and bluefish, with everything else carried over from 2025. Even so, check the current page before heading out. This is general information, not legal advice, and the state's published rules are the ones that apply.
Next June, a Pier at the Blessing
The wharf's other calendar runs on ceremony. The Southport Conservancy describes itself as the annual sponsor of the Blessing of the Fleet and the Southport Street Parade. A 2026 listing set this year's event for June 13, with the Lower Wharf and Pequot Yacht Club as event sites and the parade route ending at Pequot Library.
In early June 2026 the pier was still a construction site. The Town's June 1 update reported that two concrete caps had been replaced and structural reinforcement was going in. The pier had been closed since the December 2022 storm, so next June's Blessing of the Fleet will be the first since then with a usable pier at Lower Wharf. The Harbor Management Commission still manages the property for public use, with the Harbor Master providing patrols during harbor events as the commission directs.
Until then, the wharf is a short walk down Harbor Road from the village shops covered in our Pequot Avenue summer post. It has new benches and fresh sod, and the pier will look familiar to anyone who knew the old one.
Houses near Southport Harbor share their history with landmarks like the Lower Wharf. Emily has long been involved with the area's historical societies and knows the history behind this stretch of shoreline. If you own a home near the water and want to know how that history affects how it should be presented, Emily Gordon would be glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
