Officials and representatives of advocacy groups show were on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor on Thursday to show off improvements aimed at luring more visitors to Peddocks and other harbor islands.

QUINCY – Wearing a guayabera shirt and a state Department of Conservation and Recreation baseball cap, Gov. Deval Patrick felt like he was “playing hooky” Thursday during his first visit to Peddocks Island.

Along with other officials and representatives of advocacy groups, Patrick was showing off improvements at the island aimed at increasing the number of visitors at Peddocks and other Boston Harbor islands.



“These are public treasures, and they are meant to be used by the public,” Patrick said.



As he spoke, some of the nearly 500 campers visiting the island on a field trip played games and fired up barbecues on the parade ground nearby. On the other side of him, campers tossed rocks into the water from the beach.



Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Jack Murray said $15 million in improvements to the island over the past decade have been aimed at improving “public access and recreational use.” The money has come from public and private sources.



Patrick helped cut the ceremonial ribbon for the restored chapel building on the island. The wooden building was built in 1941 when the island was an Army base.



More than 100 apprentices from the New England Carpenters Union did the carpentry work on the building, while the Roca program for youth painted the interior.



Phillip Griffiths, president and CEO of the Boston Harbor Islands Alliance, said that “all this investment has helped rejuvenate this island.”



Other work that has been done on the island includes stabilizing some of the island’s remaining buildings, renovating the former guardhouse into a “welcome center,” and creating picnic areas and yurt and tent camping sites.



New trails around the 200-acre island have been added, along with informational signs.



Secretary of Environmental Affairs Maeve Vallely Bartlett said the harbor islands are an increasingly popular destination. There were 450,000 visitors last year.



Murray said the state wants more people to know about the recreational activities available on the islands.



“The more people who have an opportunity to enjoy the island, the word will spread,” he said.



Bruce Berman of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay said Peddocks Island has more sandy beachfront than anywhere in the area except Nantasket and Revere beaches.



“It’s been sort of mothballed for a while,” Berman said of the island. “It’s nice to see it taken out of storage and polished up a bit.”



Robert Golledge, board chairman of the Boston Harbor Alliance, said a lot more can be done at the island, and the group is already discussing some of the possibilities, from offering kayak rentals to renovating some of the old Army base buildings for use as a retreat center.



“All sorts of things can be envisioned out here,” Golledge said.



Fred Hanson may be reached at fhanson@ledger.com.



