Brewer is starting construction on a new park and river trail in 2026, the city announced Thursday.
The new park will be named Pier Park and will be on North Main Street on 4.2 acres owned by the Brewer Land Trust, a nonprofit set up through the city to preserve land. The plot is attached to the old dam on the Penobscot River.
The city announced the park and trail after receiving a $250,000 Maine Trails grant from the state, which will fund the first of multiple phases. The park will add a green space to north Brewer and extend river access and trails.
City officials toured the space this past summer after a meeting about how the city’s land could be used. Officials then applied for the grant and was one of 44 projects to receive funding this December.
“We’re really lucky we have a city manager and an assistant city manager that really are quick to pick up on things,” Brewer Councilor Michele Daniels said.
The grant covers the first phase of construction that will start later this year. Plans for what will be done aren’t finalized and may be done by the spring, Daniels said, but a trail on the river will be the centerpoint.
In the announcement, City Manager Eric Glidden said the project “strengthens Brewer’s connection to the river” while creating more river access.
Officials have discussed other ideas to eventually build a pier, but the dam site will need to be cleaned first, Daniels said.
“There is just a lot of stuff that needs to be taken out or taken care of,” Daniels said. “And ultimately, and this is not set on paper, but the ultimate goal behind it is to make a pier over what is now an old fishway.”
The fishway is not in use and would be used as a place for people to use for whatever they want, Daniels said.
The new trail and pier will provide spaces for walking, biking and paddling, but won’t resemble the paved riverwalk already in Brewer, Daniels said.
“It’s still very rustic. And that’s kind of the way it should be,” Daniels said.