For Lorrie Carey, a public park is vital to a community’s culture and identity.
“I think sometimes people say that a park really isn’t a need. It’s a want,” said Carey, a member of Boscawen’s Select Board. “I would disagree. If you look at the number of individuals that use the park, it’s people of all ages. It really is a community asset.”
Past a small, white marquee anchored on the corner of Depot Street and Route 3 sits the Boscawen Town Park, an area for recreation between the scenic Northern Rail Trail and the Merrimack River. However, its lack of shelter, proper restroom facilities and accessible parking have made it difficult for park-goers to use the space effectively — a solution was “long overdue,” according to Carey.
The town’s Economic Development Committee raised these concerns in December 2023, then began to formulate an improvement plan. Now, the committee has secured contributions covering 89% of the plan’s total cost, advancing the project to its final phase of fundraising and its first phase of engineering. The primary sources of contributions include three grants from the Franklin Savings Bank, the Northern Border Regional Commission and the Division of Parks and Recreation Land and Water Conservation Fund.
“You’ve got to see if you can get these foundational grants to build on because this is a nearly half-million-dollar project. And that kind of money doesn’t exist in a small rural community like ours,” said Carey, who represents the Select Board on the Economic Development Committee.
Alongside John Porter and Charlie Niebling, she formed a small working group tasked with conducting site walks of the park alongside the state and applying for federal funding.
Having now secured $400,000 of the estimated $450,000 project costs through federal grants and donated goods and services, the committee will soon begin Phase II of the improvement plan, which will focus on making bathrooms more accessible. Although the committee did not specify the details of its Phase II timeline, the group anticipates site work and construction to begin in the spring of 2026.
“The amount of work that volunteers and businesses are offering to the town is amazing,” said Kellee Easler, director of planning and community development. “To improve our parks and town forests is something the town wants to continue.”
Both Carey and Easler credit Niebling, who has spearheaded the working group, with helping the project move forward. Easler attributes the group’s grant opportunities to Niebling’s persistence and dedication.
“He is a man who wears many hats,” she said. “We could not have done this without him.”
The project will also include a picnic pavilion, a Merrimack River observation platform at the former 1907 Storrs Bridge abutment, interpretive memorials to the bridge, more accessible restroom facilities and improvements to Depot Street for parking and traffic flow.
“This project really is a great example of ‘it takes a village,’” Carey said.
For more information about the Boscawen Town Park Improvement Project, visit https://www.boscawennh.gov/.
