Community Celebrates Whitewater Park Groundbreaking

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Local businessman Bob Grevior, right, receives a kayak paddle from Mill City Park's executive director, Marty Parichand, during a ceremony at Franklin's Trestle View Park on July 12. Using paddles for the groundbreaking are, from left, Franklin City Manager Judie Milner; Jim Aberg of the Franklin Business and Industrial Development Corporation; Scott Crowder of the Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development; Kerry Holmes of Sen. Hassan's Office; Congressman Ann Kuster; Mill City Park's Jeremy Laucks; Michele Cota of Sen. Shaheen's Office; Parichand; and Grevior. (Tom Caldwell Photo)

FRANKLIN — What has been an intangible dream is becoming a tangible reality with Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony to launch the construction of a kayak surf wave in the Winnipesaukee River and stadium seating in Trestle View Park.

Marty Parichand, executive director of the nonprofit Mill City Park at Franklin Falls, told the roughly 100 people attending the ceremony that he was happy to be there talking about the tangibles — the whitewater park and other features that are being developed along a segment of the Winnipesaukee River — but, he said, “the intangibles are even better.”

“Everything we’ve done up to this point is intangible. It’s an idea. It’s a concept. It’s a relationship. It’s working really hard so that someday the future is going to be brighter,” he said.

Forging public-private relationships with the city launched a revitalization that has made it to main street — or, in Franklin’s case, Central Street.

“Over the past year,” Parichand said, “looking forward to the next four years, about $75 million is going to be spent on Central Street. It’s in the process right now, based off an idea based off an improvement of quality of life, for both residents and businesses. So although tangibly I’m very excited to serve so my arms fall off inside of a whitewater park, the intangible aspects, the growth that we’re seeing, the benefits to our community, and certainly the relationships I’ve been able to form with many of you are more important.”

Jeremy Laucks, owner of Blackfly Canoes in New Hampton, who serves on the Mill City Park board, admitted, “to be honest, when I first heard Marty’s idea for building a whitewater park here, like everybody else, I was pretty skeptical. It was a good idea, but I was not really sure we could actually do it.”

Laucks said he spent about 10 years competing in freestyle kayaking, so he has seen the impact of recreation on host communities, but he also heard stories about all the parks that never happened. “They get held up in red tape. They never gain traction; they never get the funding. They never get the support, and people move on to other things. …

“But it turns out that Marty is a lot more stubborn that most people,” he continued. “He also likes to surround himself with people who are also equally stubborn. It’s not that we like doing things that aren’t possible, but we tend to be pretty good at it. … So while it feels like it’s been a long time, in the scale of doing these projects, it’s been impossibly fast.”

The concept of a whitewater park emerged five years ago, and Monday’s groundbreaking marks the first stage of a three-phase plan to build features into the bottom of the river that create waves kayakers and surfers can take advantage of to hone their skills on the water while remaining in place.

Local businessman Bob Grevior, who donated the land for Trestle View Park in Franklin, discusses the Mill City Park project with Congressman Ann Kuster following a groundbreaking ceremony on July 12. (Tom Caldwell Photo)

Plans for Mill City Park also extend to camping, picnicking, and hiking. One key aspect is reconstruction of the iconic railroad trestle spanning the river, and Congressman Annie Kuster was on hand to discuss the $1.2 million in federal funds that she hopes to secure for the project.

Kuster has received funding authorization for the project through the INVEST in America Act, which has passed the House. The Senate is now considering the bill, and could make changes. Kuster sees the bill’s passage as an important first step, but the funding still must go through the normal appropriations process.

The bill is separate from the Biden infrastructure bill being negotiated with a bipartisan group of senators.

Kuster said that, having grown up in New Hampshire, and spending her summers on Newfound Lake, she passes through Franklin frequently and has a deep appreciation of the rivers. “What we’re excited about is that this project will build upon your efforts, and ensure this site will be a world-class whitewater destination. … It’s going to bring tourism; it’s going to be an important local investment. It’s going to bring a sense of excitement to Franklin that I’m super excited about.”

Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan were unable to attend, but they sent staff members to represent them at the ceremony.

Michele Cota, Shaheen’s special assistant for policy and projects, said Mill City Park is a project the senator had supported from the beginning, and she read a letter from Shaheen that described it as a great model to follow.

Kerry Holmes, outreach director for Senator Hassan, said the park “highlights the natural beauty of the area and has something for everyone.”

Governor Chris Sununu, who has supported the park in the past, did not attend, but Scott Crowder, director of the newly created Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development, spoke of the park’s importance to the state.

“When you look at the New Hampshire economy here, civic outdoor recreation — we’re looking at 3.3 percent of our state’s GDP is directly correlated to recreation. That’s the ninth highest of the states across the country. Consumer spending is 2.8 billion, providing 37,000 jobs across the state and $1.3 billion in wages,” he said.

Crowder added, “I’ve heard Marty say, this is not a mill town, this is a river town. Everyone knows it’s a river town now.”

Interim Mayor Olivia Zink said it has been a journey to get there, but it could not have happened without the community partnerships, partnerships with the congressional delegation, partnerships with the state, “and all of the different agencies and all of the nonprofits, Franklin Savings Bank, and so many others that helped work together to make this project so successful.”

Special recognition went to Bob Grevior, whose family donated the land that became Trestle View Park. “He understood the power of this river and what it meant to the community long before we ever started on this project,” Laucks said. “He planted the seeds for what we’re starting today.”

Grevior demurred the publicity, saying he was not seeking to have his name on anything. “My father always said, ‘Do something while you’re alive and can appreciate it when it’s done.’ I just say thank-you to everybody who worked on this.”

This story originally appeared at InDepthNH.org.