LEWISTON — The near-to-last draft of a master plan focusing on the city’s riverfront was made public Tuesday morning.
City officials emailed the draft of the Riverfront Island Master plan to a list of interested residents and subscribers Tuesday afternoon in advance of the final public hearing on the plan.
The plan is also available on the Sun Journal’s website.
The public hearing on the plan is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Museum L-A, 35 Canal St.
The plan, by consultants from Boston-firm Goody Clancy, shows how the city can use and re-energize Lewiston’s Riverfront Island, the area between the river and Lewiston’s canals, from Island Point to Cedar Street. It includes the Bates Mill complex, as well as Simard-Payne Memorial Park, the Franco-American Heritage Center, Museum L-A.
The plan spells out three elements to bringing the area to life. First, it calls for a Lewiston Riverwalk mirroring the path in Auburn, from Cedar Street and the Lown Peace Bridge to Island Point, crossing under Main Street and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge at one point.
The plan also calls for a tree-lined walking path all along the Lewiston’s canal system, opening it up for walking and other athletic uses, including kayaking and canoeing.
Consultants recommend bringing new uses to the area, beginning with Museum L-A’s planned move to the Camden Yarn mill south of Simard-Payne Memorial Park. It calls for riverfront housing in the Continental Mill, light industrial shops in the Hill Mill, new commercial development on Island Point and retail and restaurant uses throughout.
Much of the plan hinges on Bates Mill No. 5. The consultants presented three possible scenarios for the future of the Bates Mill No. 5 in January. The first kept the building, the second replaced it with a significant downtown park and the third replaced the building with a retail development.
A mix of all three — preserving parts of the building and leaving room for a public space and some retail — was most popular for some of the people at the January meeting.
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