LEWISTON — The city is seeking a consultant to update its redevelopment plan for the riverfront area.
A bid posting for the project urges proposals to get creative, with ideas like expanding the surrounding riverwalk and trail areas with public art and exercise stations, finding a permanent home for the Lewiston farmers’ market and upgrading Simard-Payne Memorial Park.
The original Riverfront Island Master Plan, which covers the city’s downtown area between Canal Street and the Androscoggin River, was completed in 2013.
Since then, the city has succeeded in implementing some elements of the plan, but according to City Administrator Heather Hunter, much has changed since then as well.
Lewiston has since taken ownership and begun preliminary work on the historic canal system, has used Simard-Payne Memorial Park for more events, and is nearing the relicensing of the Lewiston falls, she said.
The city is also looking to encourage more in-fill development in an area that has seen more redevelopment interest, including at the Continental Mill and the future home of a new, rebranded Museum L-A.
“We are hoping proposals view the enlarged surrounding area in the responses to generate creative options to incorporate development and utilization of the canals and the river, expand event planning within the park, and incorporate further design elements as an attraction while they recreate,” Hunter said Tuesday.
Racers load and unload their shells at the temporary dock at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston during the L/A Riverfest regatta in July. Lewiston Rowing has secured funding to install a permanent dock at the location, which was one of the goals of the Riverfront Island Master Plan. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
This summer, a burgeoning rowing organization installed a temporary dock along the Androscoggin River for L/A Riverfest and has since secured funding to make it permanent. The dock is listed as a goal of the Riverfront Island plan.
According to the bid posting, “a number of important tasks have not been completed or in some cases, recommendations were not specific enough or conditions have changed enough to warrant an update of the plan.”
The city envisions the area as, “an urban, recreation-oriented destination” that in the future has “significant new housing, open space, stores, offices, restaurants and a hotel, all with strong connections to the river and the Lisbon Street area.”
The bid lists several goals, including expanding the riverwalk to make it “more than just a trail or pedestrian project,” and eventually connecting it to the Avon Street area. Recommendations should include ways to incorporate public art, exercise stations and sitting areas designed to encourage social interaction, the bid states.
Recommendations to update Simard-Payne Memorial Park could include public art, a playground, small and large entertainment venues, food truck areas, workout stations, and more.
An assessment created by city staff to track the progress of the plan lists 35 goals. Twenty have yet to be implemented, eight have been completed, and the rest are listed as in progress.
Despite bid proposals being due back by late December, Mayor Mark Cayer said Tuesday he didn’t agree with the decision to, “invest in an outside consultant to update the plan.”
He said it should instead be a “staff-driven” update with community input, one that won’t take away funds that could be used toward projects.
“I believe there are projects on the table that we should be more focused on, like lighting up the pedestrian bridge with our partners in Auburn and finding ways to better utilize the amphitheater,” he said.
Cayer, who will be replaced by Mayor-elect Carl Sheline next month, said the city is scheduled to begin work around the canals, part of a multi-year effort to beautify the canals by removing brush and replacing fencing.
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