The Riverwalk project in downtown Dover follows the Cocheco River from the Central Ave Bridge to Chestnut Street and will eventually join the Rails-to-Trails project currently underway. The mission is to revitalize this neglected area by removing overgrown shrubbery and invasive species to be replaced with specific low maintenance plantings including rhododendrons and ground clovers. The idea behind minimal maintenance, aside from cost and labor, is to ensure this valued public path and park does not suffer from neglect in future generations. Participants include Strafford County Master Gardeners and interns, landscape architect Norm Fracassa of Landcare Associates, children and families from Dover Housing Authority, and any community member who volunteers for the Riverwalk project.

Local sculptor, horticulturalist, and philanthropist Joe Parks has given unlimited access to his hybrid rhododendrons and donated one of his bronze sculptures titled “Mankind,” a boulder with two hands emerging, in the effort to transform this forgotten downtown area into a unique specimen garden that will provide a stunning display of scents and color year after year, while helping preserve and protect the natural and cultural heritage of the community. Attention in the planning and executing of the project is being given to establishing a Riverwalk with long term sustainability and requiring minimal maintenance in order to avoid the current condition. The sculpture will be placed between the Central Ave railing and the railing on the Riverwalk itself.

Prisoners from the Strafford County Intervention Program and program coordinator Dave Bedard will help with walkway repair, and help solve the erosion problem by planting easy-care groundcovers, as well as JoeParks’ donated blueberry bushes farther along the path. Community volunteers will be taught responsible planting practices, in addition to the importance of easy maintenance of this site.

Dover resident Joe Parks is past president of the Massachussetts Rhododendron Society, and has been asked to register his 6 acre garden by the Smithsonian Institute. 92-year-old Parks, having hybridized over 22 varieties of rhododendron specifically for disease resistance, is concerned with what will become of his work when he is gone. Planting his specimens along the Riverwalk is an everlasting symbol of his leadership and generosity. Norm Fracassa and Beth Fischer have invested heavily of their time and energy, and are leading other volunteers into the proud service of beautifying their community.

Dover is one of just 19 communities in the state to be an officially accredited Main Street Community, under the umbrella of the NH Main Street Center in Concord. Since Dover’s designation as a Main Street Community in 1999, volunteers have been recognized with more than 25 awards of excellence for projects, including Outstanding Main Street Community of 2003. Strafford County Master Gardeners, interns, and community members from towns other than Dover are getting involved in the Riverwalk project, and seeing firsthand how a city improves from a beatification project. Many towns throughout Strafford County could benefit from revitalization efforts, and the Riverwalk Project is educating people from many communities as well as setting work examples to be modeled after.

A partnership between the Dover Riverwalk and UNH Cooperative Extension has been established. Other associations involved include Dover Main Street Program, Dover Rotary, NH Landscape Association, and the Strafford County Master Gardeners. Dover Rotary has generously offered to match grants up to $4000 for this project.