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New boardwalk to offer view of marsh near Slaughter Beach

DNREC
State officials and private contributors break ground on the Marvel Saltmarsh Preserve scenic overlook boardwalk

Delaware state agencies and other partners broke ground last week on a new boardwalk near Slaughter Beach.

The 345-foot Y-shaped platform will allow visitors to walk out into the 109-acre Marvel Saltmarsh Preserve just down the road from the beach. It will provide access to a marsh pool and allow for an elevated view into a constructed osprey nest platform.

DNREC grants funded engineering and design.

DNREC Secretary Sean Garvin says the boardwalk will be a useful education tool for school children.

“It’s an opportunity for them to get right out into the marsh and be able to touch and feel and see all the incredible things the marsh has to offer,” said Garvin.

The was donated to the the Delaware Nature Society in 1988 by the Marvel family of Milford.

It is home to several species of crabs, shrimp and mollusks, and is also a destination for birding.

Garvin calls the project a major enhancement to a premier destination in the Bayshore region.

“There’s just a lot of incredible things out there to see: fiddler crabs, and blue crabs, and grass shrimps, and mollusks, and various insects, and various birds, and osprey, and egrets and willets,” he said.

The Marvel Saltmarsh Preserve scenic overlook project is out to bid. Funding will largely come from Federal Highway Administration grants funneled through DelDOT. About 20% will come from sponsor matches and DNREC grants.