Central Park Plans Evolving

By Zendelle Bouchard

A planned redesign of Central Park may include expansion of the park and the addition of a permanent live Christmas tree that would negate the need to install a cut tree each year. At its monthly meeting on Sept. 10, the City Council’s Municipal Operations and Property Subcommittee discussed possible locations for a permanent tree and a timeline for planting.

In 2020, Aceto Landscape Architects created a conceptual plan of a redesign for the park, which included moving the statue of Thomas Goodall to the edge of the park near Washington Street, removing the existing paved pathways to create a larger open grassy space in the middle of the park, planting more trees along Main and School streets, and creating a walkway between the two streets at the south end of the park.

Subcommittee members Mayor Becky Brink, Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy and Councilor Ayn Hanselmann discussed various placement options for a permanent tree with City Manager Steve Buck and city staff. Buck said plans for the RAISE Grant reconstruction of downtown have substantially changed over the past few years, and recommended hiring Aceto to revise the plan to reflect those changes and incorporate the Christmas tree.

The new plan could also include expansion of the park to include the vacant lot on School Street between the park and the Sanford Housing Authority office, which is city-owned property. One suggestion is to have that become a special spot for people to enjoy some quiet reflection, incorporating the Goodall statue as well as the Veterans memorial marker.

Aaron Stamm, a former horticulture teacher at Sanford Regional Technical Center who now teaches at the BRIDGE Program in the Willard Building, would like to engage his students in the Christmas tree planting project once the city is ready to move forward. Stamm and other professionals were consulted about the best species to plant and the consensus was a balsam fir. This iconic Christmas tree species typically grows 40 to 60 feet tall and is native to Maine. Its cones fall to the ground in pieces, so they don’t need to be raked up.

Public Works Director Matt Hill told the subcommittee that reconstructing the park concurrently with the RAISE Grant projects would complicate the $25 million in federal funding that is paying for most of them. He recommended waiting until after the RAISE Grant work in that area is complete. Among the projects included in the RAISE Grant are the reconstruction of parts of School, Main and Washington streets, set to begin in spring 2026. Subcommittee members also agreed that they didn’t want to plant a tree now which might be adversely affected by construction dust and root disturbance.

Other locations including Gateway Park and the Veterans Memorial Gym were briefly considered, but subcommittee members agreed that the downtown Central Park location is optimal. When the revised park plan comes to the full council for approval, there will be discussion about whether a cut tree will continue to be brought in for the first several years after the permanent tree is planted, until it grows large enough to make an effective display.

Central Park Apartments

The Property Subcommittee also discussed the city entering a public/private partnership with ReinCorp, which is planning three new apartment buildings on School Street across from Central Park. The project, which is scheduled for a groundbreaking in mid-October, was initially proposed to mesh with existing road conditions, but is being complicated by the RAISE Grant reconstruction plans. City staff are now recommending the apartment project mesh with the conditions that will exist once the roadway reconstruction is complete. Assistant City Engineer Matt Provencher said that in order to do this, and to avoid drainage problems, the sidewalk needs to come out further and the entire site needs to be raised four inches. The public/private partnership means the city will pay $50,000 toward the cost of redoing the plans. Subcommittee members agreed to move the proposal forward for consideration by the full City Council, possibly at next week’s meeting.