The largely empty grassy area next to the transit hub in downtown Bangor will soon look a little different.
Bangor’s engineering department released a draft of what the final phase of the Pickering Square redesign project will include. The sketch, which was presented to the city council’s Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday, proposes adding multiple seating areas, more lighting and public art displays to the square that’s now largely empty.
Sprucing up Pickering Square will be the finishing touch on a years-long project that took the largely brick square, which has hosted everything from a market to a parking lot, and replaced it with a transit hub. The redesign also moved the vehicle entrance to the parking garage, replaced the footbridge across the Kenduskeag Stream and upgraded utilities along Water Street.
The final step of the redesign plan includes adding a sidewalk with inground blue LED lighting around the perimeter of the triangular area while maintaining a grassy space in the center with other vegetation scattered throughout.
A hardscape area with bistro seating is also planned near the mouth of the footbridge, as well as five double-sided art displays added along the sidewalk bordering Merchants Plaza.
Covered swinging benches, a grandfather clock or sculpture and a decorative fence between the transit hub and the square will be added to make the area more appealing to visitors, according to the plan.
Informational kiosks and wayfinding signs near the corners closest to both the pedestrian and vehicle entrances to the parking garage are also included in the Pickering Square plans.
Jefferson Davis, a landscape architect and project engineer in the city’s engineering department presented the blueprint to the city committee on Wednesday.
Councilor Gretchen Schaefer said she has watched the city complete the numerous improvements around Pickering Square during her time on the city council and she’s pleased to see the final plan for “putting a bow” on the area.
The city’s engineering department developed the design after receiving feedback from community members during meetings, workshops and pop-up events throughout last summer. While residents proposed adding everything from performance space to a carousel, ideas that rose to the surface include areas for art displays, multiple seating areas and wayfinding signs.
The city plans to put the project out to bid next month and hopes to have it completed by the end of 2024, Davis said.