SKOWHEGAN — With state and federal permits now in hand, a river park 25 years in the making is hoping to break ground next year.
Kristina Cannon, president and CEO of Main Street Skowhegan, said more than two decades of planning has given them an opportunity to figure out the best way to give people more access to the river.
“It is a super innovative project,” she said. “Rural communities that are looking to build resilience and diversify the economy, we really need to use our assets in order to figure out how we’re going to drive economic and community development.”
Unlike other central Maine riverside communities, Skowhegan’s downtown sits high above the Kennebec River. There’s a walkway across the river, but no docks or access for kayakers from the downtown.
The river park is a proposal to build a long riverside walkway behind main street businesses and to create whitewater experiences in the river below. Phase one plans call for “an adjustable wave” that may be enjoyed by surfers one day and kayakers the next, Cannon said.
Eventually, the hope is to build three whitewater features, all of which will have up to a two-foot drop with calm water not far away as a place to rest, according to the project website.
“The features will generate consistent, quality waves at a variety of flow levels for kayakers, surfers, stand-up paddleboarders, bodyboarders, tubers and others,” according to the site.
In a 2022 interview, Cannon said she and others researched towns with downtown water parks, including those in Columbus, Georgia and Salida, Colorado.
Officials there said while one in five people who come to the park will get in the water, others will be looking for places to watch the action, trails to hike along the river, shops to browse in and places to eat.
“Really it’s about building a river park, creating better access to the river, getting more people outside, improving health and wellness rates and really helping to impact our economy,” she said Friday.
Cannon said she’s not able to provide a cost estimate as she awaits figures from design and engineering teams. She’s now moving into fundraising mode and is meeting with potential funding sources, she said.
The hope is that the park will make Skowhegan a destination for water enthusiasts from around the state.
“It’s really going to have statewide impacts,” Cannon said. “Not only will we be bringing people to Skowhegan and the greater central Maine region we’re also going to be adding more jobs, adding more investment here into Skowhegan that will affect the greater state generally.”
