WEST FARMINGTON – The Walton’s Mill Park project has officially begun and there is a long season of work ahead. The park is now closed and will be until December in order to remove the historic dam and refurbish the park.
The project was approved back in 2018 by Farmington voters. There was some initial pushback in response to the project due to the historical value of the dam. Despite this, it has been made clear that the environmental benefits will outweigh the negatives. The removal of the Walton’s Mill dam will renew Temple Stream as a habitat for the endangered Atlantic salmon.
Hunter Manley of Legacy Woodlot Services, Inc. is currently treating invasive plant species in the park, including non-native honeysuckle, Japanese knotweed and buckthorn. Manley is a state licensed forester and pesticide applicator. He will treat the property for these invasive plants from now until August. The efforts to remove invasive species from Walton’s Mill Park are made in collaboration with the Farmington Conservation Commission.
“The goal is to ensure the transition into a more diverse wetland habitat complex is intact with a native plant community,” said Maranda Nemeth, project manager of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, about the removal of invasive species. “The efforts will continue for 5 years post-dam removal.”
The dam removal will take about a month, starting on July 15, and directly after that the restoration of the stream bank will happen. This section of the project will hopefully be done by the end of September. After that is finished, the remaining work to be done will be park improvements. The plan is to install a pavilion and bathrooms for public use as well as walkways, parking areas and landscaping. If all goes smoothly the crew will be done with this by the end of November and will leave the site by early December.
All of the labor hired for this project will be based in Maine. The construction contract was given to H.E. Callahan of Auburn, with subcontracts awarded to E.L. Vining, Adrenaline Electric, and Lakeside Landscape. The technical design expertise and consulting will be Northeast Archaeology Research Center, Wright-Pierce, Casco Bay Engineering, Trillium Engineering Group, and Field Geology Services. The lead landscape architect is David Maynes Studios and the lead project engineer is Acadia Civil Works.
In the process of this project, Walton’s Mill Park will get an accessibility and safety upgrade. A new set of rock stairs will be added to allow stream-side access. The new bathroom and pavilion are going to be constructed at the park as an effort to provide the space for community recreation. Areas of green space will also be added to the park for this purpose. The walkways in the park will be improved in order to provide access to everyone.
“Persons with disabilities will be able to view the stream and woods from the overlook, utilize the ADA-compliant washroom facilities, and be able to eat and rest at the ADA-compliant picnic tables in the pavilion,” according to an update from Nemeth. “Interpretive signage will be installed depicting both the history and ecological significance of the site and Temple Stream.”
Nemeth shared that a total of $3.2 million has been invested in this project. The aim with this amount is to refresh Walton’s Mill Park and restore the original environment of Temple Stream to help the endangered Atlantic salmon as well as many other wildlife species.
