3-mile Trail Would Connect Mascoma River Greenway to Wilder Dam, Help Stimulate Downtown Revitalization and Economic Development, and Reconnect West Lebanon to the Connecticut River
WEST LEBANON– Senator Maggie Hassan, the United States Senator for New Hampshire, visited River Park West Lebanon on Friday, June 4th to meet with members of a growing coalition working to advance economic development, downtown revitalization, and outdoor recreation efforts in West Lebanon, with a renewed focus on the Connecticut River as a catalyst for positive environmental and economic improvements.
The theme of the visit was “the Power of Partnerships,” as stakeholders representing a variety of interests came together to discuss opportunities to bring a more environmentally aware and economically vibrant future to West Lebanon.
“I was glad to have the opportunity to see the impressive progress being made at River Park West Lebanon, which will be a huge boost to the local economy,” Senator Hassan said. “River Park West Lebanon will support businesses, increase housing opportunities, and provide outdoor recreation spaces for all to enjoy. Furthermore, this exciting new partnership with the National Park Service will also help strengthen efforts to build out the West Lebanon Greenway trail and conserve the natural beauty of the area. It is an example of the success that can come when business, environmental, and local and federal leaders all work together, and I look forward to seeing all that is to come at River Park West Lebanon.”
This comes at a critical juncture for West Lebanon as the downtown revitalization includes re-purposing much of the former Westboro Railyard as a riverfront park, the development of the 850,000 S.F. commercial/residential River Park campus has prioritized public trails and river access, and the success of the Mascoma River Greenway has reinforced the long-standing desire for the multi-use Greenway to be continued through West Lebanon and connect community green spaces.
Joining Senator Hassan for a tour of River Park and the riverfront was Mayor Tim McNamara from the City of Lebanon, Kathy Urffer of the Connecticut River Conservancy, Russell Hirschler of the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, Jeanie McIntyre of the Upper Valley Land Trust, Scott Crowder of the NH Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development, Tyler Ray of the Granite Outdoor Alliance, Sarah Barnes of Friends of River Park, Chet Clem and David Clem of Lyme Properties, and Lelia Mellen of the US National Park Service.
The event was hosted by Lyme Properties and the Friends of River Park, a N.H. not-for-profit organization formed in 2015 that now owns the 6-acre waterfront parcel at River Park and is the steward of the publicly accessible trails, riverfront, and events.
Friday’s tour also served as the announcement that the West Lebanon Greenway effort will soon benefit from inclusion in the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, which brings federal-level expertise and capacity-building into the coalition of local, regional, and state partners.
A Riverfront Trail
The proposed West Lebanon Greenway is a 3-mile multi-use trail along the Connecticut River connecting the historic downtown, new developments, public greenspaces, and existing and proposed trail networks. The Greenway will connect from the existing terminus of the Mascoma River Greenway, through the former Westboro Railyard in downtown West Lebanon, to the existing trails at the River Park West Lebanon mixed-use development, and onwards to the Wilder Hydroelectric Dam– which serves as a popular access point to the Boston Lot Recreation Area and Connecticut River Paddlers Trail. There are additional opportunities for future connection to points North (Hanover, NH), East (Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center), and West (White River Junction, VT).
The Greenway plan (www.westleb.org/greenway) is based upon decades of planning efforts conducted by the City of Lebanon, regional planners, and local advocacy groups, stemming from the “String of Pearls” first proposed by the Lebanon Rotary Club as a way to link community recreation areas via a network of trails. The continuation of the Greenway into West Lebanon was the #1 community priority among respondents to the 2020 Mascoma River Greenway survey.
The Friends of River Park, which represents ½-a-mile of the proposed 3-mile Greenway route, applied to the NPS-RTCA program on behalf of the broader Greenway project with support from numerous river and trail advocacy groups in the coalition, including the Lebanon Recreation, Arts, & Parks Department, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Friends of the Northern Rail Trail, Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Comission, and the Connecticut River Joint Commission.
“The RTCA program supports community-led natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation projects across the nation, and we’re pleased to be working here in West Lebanon with a broad group of passionate river and trail advocates,” said Lelia Mellen, the NH Projects Director for the Rivers & Trails program. “Tomorrow, June 5th, is National Trails Day, so this is especially good timing to kick off this exciting project in West Lebanon.”
A Green Campus
Master-planned with significant community input around the idea of “Mixed-Use, Smart Growth, and Public Access to the Connecticut River,” River Park West Lebanon is envisioned as a green, waterfront campus. The approved 850,000 S.F. project will include a mix of life-science and high-tech research/manufacturing space, a mix of housing, and restaurants and retail. River Park is developed by Lyme Properties, a West Lebanon based company that specializes in green real estate projects grounded in a philosophy of community-conscious development, that establish pioneering standards for architecture, land-use, and conservation.
Located just 2 minutes from downtown West Lebanon and 7 minutes south of Dartmouth College, River Park received 75% support from West Lebanon voters on a ballot measure to re-zone the 38-acre former auto-body shop and junkyard to allow for the master plan that was developed during Lyme’s Neighborhood Planning Process.
“We’ve always wanted River Park to help re-connect the West Lebanon community to the River and provide trails, as those were the two clearest community interests,” said Chet Clem, President of Lyme Properties. “We made the river and trails a priority and they became the identity of the project, but we also looked beyond our bounds and saw an opportunity to be a key piece of the larger puzzle of recreational connectivity, alternative transportation, and equitable access in the region.”
The River Park plans include an Advance Transit multi-modal transfer station, in an effort to make the project a Trail-Oriented and Transit-Oriented development and allow the campus and Greenway to be accessible to all and by public transportation.
A Re-connected Downtown West Lebanon
With River Park under development to the north, and a trail proposed to tie the region together, Downtown West Lebanon is also receiving revitalization attention. Decades of planning efforts have been stymied by a lack of funding and the Westboro Railyard, two impediments that are hopefully seeing progress in 2021.
The City of Lebanon is negotiating a 99-year lease of portions of the 17-acre railyard from the State of New Hampshire, which will allow the parcel to be repurposed as a riverfront park and a key piece of the Greenway “String of Pearls.” The NHDOT has recently put out to bid a plan to remediate and demolish the remaining dilapidated structures, a critical first-step towards facilitating the reconnection of the downtown to the river
The coalition hopes that the nationwide conversation about infrastructure investment, as well as the recreation advocacy efforts tied to the Wilder Dam relicensing and State of New Hampshire outdoor recreation priorities, will bring critical support and opportunities to West Lebanon.
“These improvements in West Lebanon are long overdue, but I think the stars may finally be aligning to bring the right people together to turn great ideas into real action,” said Tim McNamara, a 5th-generation West Lebanon native and the current Mayor of Lebanon. “Progress requires working together to find solutions, not focusing on reasons why something can’t be done. This is a great opportunity to reconnect and revitalize West Lebanon.”
Additional Information:
West Lebanon Greenway
River Park West Lebanon
Friends of River Park
Lyme Properties
Contact Information:
Laura Epstein, Office of U.S. Senator Hassan Laura_Epstein@hassan.senate.gov 202-816-2057
Chet Clem, Lyme Properties. chet@lymeproperties.com 603-676-7106
Angela McCanna, Friends of River Park. angela@friendsofriverpark.org 603-676-7042