SHUTESBURY – For residents of Montague Road, Wednesday marked the end of an era: They had to say goodbye to a dam dating back to the early 19th century.

The Dudleyville Pond Dam, affectionately called Brown’s Dam by property owner Lois Brown, was breached and removed after the state Office of Dam Safety classified it as an urgent safety hazard.

The property, pond and dam have been in the Brown family since 1951, when Lois’ father, Robert Brown, purchased the property. The family has maintained the dam for decades, despite facing warnings from the Office of Dam Safety since the 1990s.

The nearly 200-year-old dam does not meet modern safety requirements, according to Stantec engineer Michael Chelminski. After years of erosion, climate change leading to increased rainfall and other environmental impacts, and beaver dams upstream raising water levels, the Dudleyville Pond Dam was at risk of failure. If the dam were to fail, it would overload an aging culvert and flood the road and possibly some homes.

“It’s not upstream from 20,000 people, but it’s still upstream from people and roads,” said Susie Bresney, ecological restoration specialist with the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration.

In January, the Department of Ecological Restoration was commissioned to investigate the dam. In March, it was determined that the dam was beyond repair and had to be demolished.

Chelminski described the dam as a dangerous car that skids on the highway and crashes into people. The state must intervene and take measures.

“The danger is that we have a dam in bad shape, a culvert in bad shape. … Now is the time to do something,” he said.

The Dam Safety Authority issued an emergency demolition order, which would bypass the permitting process, which normally takes three to five years, and would allow the demolition to be financed.

“It’s rare,” says Rebecca Budd, restoration program manager at the Greenfield-based Connecticut River Conservancy, which sponsored the removal.

David Brown, Lois’ brother, maintains that the dam was not in danger of failing and that the hazard rating was exaggerated. The real problem, he said, was the retaining wall and complications from the weather. He has worked on repairing and maintaining the dam for decades and excavated an area to build a retaining wall directly behind it. That wall was damaged by Hurricane Hugo, which David says was the real problem.

David said he was ordered to stop work on the dam because the Office of Dam Safety required environmental and engineering studies that would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Eventually, bureaucratic red tape and exorbitant costs – including $500-a-day fines for not meeting dam safety standards – forced the Browns to accept that the dam would have to be demolished.

“I have worked on this dam for a long time and it is a great disappointment that all my work has been for nothing,” David said, adding that he would like to rebuild the dam one day but does not believe he will be able to do so due to rising costs. “Maybe if I win the lottery.”

In its heyday, Dudleyville Pond was the place to be, the Browns said. There was always something going on there, from picnics with family and friends to concerts by local bands. Even the University of Massachusetts hockey team used to practice on the pond, David said.

Lois also got married on a floating dock on the pond.

“It was the jewel of the property,” Lois said.

Before the Browns took over the dam, it was owned and operated by SF Dudley, who built the dam and a sawmill in the 1830s.

In the 1830s, the pond was used not only as a mill but also for ice production, David said. In the winter, ice collectors came to the pond and cut out large blocks of ice, which were then shipped to Boston.

Lois said she was as sad about the loss of the dam as she was relieved to no longer have to worry about funding repairs.

“It’s a huge relief to have the funding secured and everything done,” Lois said.

While the dam is being dismantled, all of its parts will remain on the property. Much of the rock used to build it will be reused to create the new bank for a stream that will be created by the pond’s outpouring. Lois said her brother plans to reuse the remaining rocks and boulders to build stone walls and other projects.

Stantec engineers said demolition work will continue over the next few days and a new river bank will be created. By Aug. 29, the dam will be completely gone and Dudleyville Pond will look more like a stream – good news for the trout that live downstream.

According to fish counts conducted by the Department of Ecological Restoration, there are significant numbers of trout downstream. Removing the dam will allow them to reach a larger area and explore expanded habitat.

“That’s an obstacle, and they’ll be able to overcome it now,” Budd said.

Bresney said once the emergency work is completed, the Department of Ecological Restoration hopes to work with the Town of Shutesbury to replace the culvert and further improve safety at the site.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or [email protected].