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July 25, 2019

Belgrade Lakes Main Street, park projects near completion

Photo / Maureen Milliken The new Belgrade Village Green, which will be dedicated Aug. 3, is on land that once was part of the sprawling Belgrade Hotel property. The hotel, which burned in 1956, was behind where the building on the left is.
By Maureen Milliken

A new village green-style park in Belgrade Lakes Village and a long-delayed upgrade to Route 27, which was enhanced by $725,000 raised by local businesses, are nearing completion.

The nonprofit Friends of Belgrade Lakes Village, formed by local businesses to work with the state on the road project, is also the property holder of the new Belgrade Village Green park. It will hand the park over to the town once it's completed in the coming months. It will host a dedication party Aug. 3.

The park was built on land owned by Lynn and Phyllis Matson, who have funded the design and development of the park. They bought the acre of land, which once was part of the sprawling Belgrade Hotel property, in 2017. It was part of 250 acres along Long Pond that once housed the 75-room hotel, a nine-hole golf course and numerous outbuildings. That property was sold and subdivided after the hotel burned down in 1956.

Voters at town meeting in March agreed to accept the park from the nonprofit once it's completed.

While Belgrade's population of around 3,000 doubles in the summer, proponents of the park said it was a needed element, providing an attractive gateway into the village and a public outdoor gathering space. The acre at the intersection of Maine Street (Route 27) and West Road has been largely vacant since the hotel's demise. A small house that once was the clubhouse of the hotel's golf course was burned in a fire department training exercise in early 2018.

Both the road enhancements and the park are supported by the town's 2013 comprehensive plan, which stressed enhancing aesthetics of Main Street.

Architect Steve Blatt and landscape architect Pat Carroll drew the park plan, and architect Brian Kent donated the plan for the 20-foot diameter gazebo. The park also has a stone-wall bench, a walking path, new trees and parking for five cars. Companies that worked on the project include Thayer Engineering, Warren Brothers Excavating, Leland Masonry and Native Notions Landscaping.

Photo / Maureen Milliken
Orange cones mark where street lamps will be installed next fall on the newly widened and upgraded Belgrade Village Main Street (Route 27). The Friends of Belgrade Lakes, formed by business leaders in town, raised money to pay for brick sidewalks, granite curbing and the lights, as well as bike racks, benches and more.

Main Street upgrade almost done

The $3.125 million upgrade of the half-mile of Route 27 through the village, which is squeezed between two lakes, was put off for decades. The rest of the 40 miles between Augusta and Farmington, a main route to Sugarloaf and the western mountains, had been widened and improved over the last 40 years.

Because of the geography — the village is on an isthmus between two lakes — the impact of construction on businesses during the important summer season, the last time the road was upgraded was in the early 1960s.

Once the state Department of Transportation said it was forging ahead with the project a few years ago, a group of town business owners formed Friends of Belgrade Lakes Village, which raised money to enhance what Days Store owner Diane Oliver said was going to be “a sea of asphalt.”

The group raised $725,000, including a $300,000 matching challenge grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation, the Acorn Foundation, the Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation and the Peter Alfond Foundation. The money has paid for brick sidewalks, granite curbs, pedestrian lighting, benches and bike racks.

The group continues to work on finding a location and raising money for an off-street parking area with a comfort station. Some $250,000 from the money raised for the road enhancements is available, but the cost estimate is between $500,000 and $600,000, including the property purchase. The final cost will depend on how much it will cost to buy property, Friends officials said. There is limited available space in the village that could accommodate a parking lot.

The overall project included widening the road, adding parking along one side and water runoff filtration and upgrades. It initially includes asphalt sidewalks and no enhancements.

Both last year and this year, the project was stopped in July and August so it wouldn't have a negative impact on village summer business. The road construction project will continue after Labor Day, when brick sidewalks will be finished and a final coat of asphalt put down. 

Oliver, of the friends group, said there may also be development of a green space at the intersection of West Road, near the new park, for a dedication plaque to the Alfond Foundation for its challenge grant, as well as the many donors who matched the challenge to allow the improvements and upgrades to be incorporated into the construction design.

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