Brewer waterfront trail to feature 11 sites
Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Stories about Brewer and the region - including one about a pair of visiting white beluga whales in 1954, and others about Penobscot Indians - will be highlighted along Brewer's planned Historic Waterfront Trail system.

Other historic facts about the region's history, industries and cultures also will be found along the planned Penobscot River trail at 11 different information spots, Robert "Mack" West, consultant for Informal Learning Experiences Inc. of Washington, D.C., said Tuesday during a presentation to local residents.

"We're excited to get feedback on it and the public involved," Tanya Pereira, Brewer economic specialist, said before introducing West.

Weeding through the numerous stories of local lore to find the most historic and accurate ones that relate to Brewer and the river has been the goal of West's firm, which was hired a year ago to create the trail's concept designs.

"We're working very hard on fact checks" to ensure accurate information is used, he said. "There are some urban legends in Brewer."

The riverside walking, biking and hiking trail is planned to stretch from the former Eastern Fine Paper Co. mill in South Brewer to Felts Creek near Treat's Falls, located north of the Indian Head Trail Park.

A visitor's center at the historic mill site is planned, but without the funding needed to build the trail, and plans for former paper mill still up in the air, nothing can be guaranteed, West said.

Other stops along the trail include Eastern Park, the fishermen's pull-off park just south of Interstate 395, the Monoliths located under the bridge, the Children's Garden, in front of the Muddy Rudder Restaurant, Veteran's Park, Chamberlain Park, Indian Trail Park, the Salmon Club and Treat's Falls.

At each location, interactive informational kiosks and audiovisual interactive displays or other markers will be built to spotlight the specific area's historic significance.

Representatives from Woodard & Curran Inc. of Bangor are working on the physical characteristics of the trail and are concentrating their efforts on the area between the Children's Garden, located behind Dead River Co., and the Veteran's Park, which is phase one of the three phase project, West said.

"This is not set in stone," Pereira said to end the meeting. "This is the proposal. All of this is subject to City Council approval and community input. A lot of work still needs to be done."