
Appleton Street in Waterville, where the city is preparing to start a project as part of downtown revitalization, is pictured Thursday. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel
WATERVILLE — The city has launched a $650,000 project to build a small park with trees, flowers, grass and benches off Appleton Street as part of ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.

The project, to include street paving and other improvements, was planned during a visioning process where city leaders, businesspeople and residents spent 10 months discussing and determining how to make the downtown more walkable, user-friendly, attractive and inviting.
The work represents the first of several downtown improvement projects to be undertaken in the next few years. They include an art walk that would extend from Main Street into Castonguay Square, meander past the Waterville Opera House and City Hall Annex at 46 Front St., and connect to the future apartment complex, Head of Falls Village, off Temple Street, as well as the RiverWalk at Head of Falls by the Kennebec River.
Other projects include the development of a pedestrian corridor and plaza on the restaurant strip of Silver Street that would also allow emergency access. Outdoor seating, signs, plantings and lighting are planned for the site.
A landscaped walkway project on Temple Street is being planned to provide a walkable link between The Concourse, Main Street and Head of Falls. Sidewalks would be expanded, trees planted and lighting added. Spring Street would receive pedestrian-oriented improvements as part of another project to develop a safer and better connection to the South End of the city.
The Appleton Street pocket park will be situated between the back of the Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons and Cheung Lee, a restaurant on The Concourse. It will be across Appleton Street from the Waterville Public Library.
City Manager Bryan Kaenrath said Wednesday that the goal is to complete the project by October.
“We’re going to have benches there, trees, flowers, grass,” Kaenrath said. “It’s really going to change the whole character of that area.”
The city’s public works department is doing a lot of the work and Littlefield, of Benton, will do the paving of Appleton Street, Kaenrath said.

Conceptual view of improved Appleton Street with wider sidewalks, safer crossings, seating and planting areas, and an expanded and renovated pocket park. Source: City of Waterville
The traffic pattern on Appleton will not change, he said. In 2023, the pattern was changed to allow for several new parking spaces in front of the library, so motorists entering Appleton from Elm Street may continue down Appleton to Main Street, but those entering Appleton from Main Street may proceed only past the Colby dorm and then must turn left into The Concourse.
Funding for the Appleton project comes mostly from a leftover $7.37 million federal BUILD grant money the city received in 2018 to change the traffic pattern on Main Street downtown from one-way to two-way and make other improvements. About $100,000 will be used from a city bond for capital improvement projects over the next couple of years, according to Kaenrath.
“We’re just really excited to keep the momentum going in downtown, with downtown revitalization,” Kaenrath said. “This is a great project.”
The city expects to be successful in obtaining $1.6 million in congressional funding to help with further downtown projects, according to Kaenrath.
“I think it’s really going to continue to transform the downtown,” he said.
Kaenrath updated the City Council on the Appleton Street redesign project July 2, saying a concrete crew would be working first on a retaining wall across the street from the library. Utility work would take place over the next couple of weeks, he said, as water, sewer, Central Maine Power Co., gas and communications workers start lowering manholes and valves on the street in advance of reclaiming the pavement.
City Engineer Andrew McPherson, who is overseeing the project, said the park will be bordered by a brick walkway. Appleton Street itself will be reclaimed and repaved, and a concrete sidewalk with a brick paver strip installed to match those on Main Street. New street lights and trees also will match those on Main Street.
“What will be new to the area will be raised flower beds,” McPherson said. “In areas that are currently striped out in yellow paint as ‘no parking’ areas on Appleton — these will have a granite curb perimeter and have flowers and shrubs in the center.”
After the pavement is ground up, the street will be paved with a base and the contractor will start granite curb and sidewalk work, he said. During reclaiming and paving, the street will be closed to traffic for a few days, he said.
“We expect to maintain traffic and some parking throughout the project,” he said. “We expect work to begin next week and take about 12 weeks to complete.”
Downtown revitalization efforts were launched in 2016 after Colby College President David A. Greene held meetings with city officials, downtown business people, arts advocates and others to discuss what the downtown needed to be successful and thrive. Priorities identified included the need to have more people living and working downtown; filling vacant storefronts and upper floors of downtown buildings; supporting existing business and helping to draw new ones to downtown; and supporting and expanding the arts.
After that, Colby and others invested millions of dollars in the downtown, constructing and renovating buildings, opening new businesses, developing housing projects and constructing art-related venues such as the Paul J. Schupf Art Center and Greene Block + Studios.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.