New Gloucester Long-Range Planning
What to do with the Fairgrounds property?
By Elizabeth Prata

New Gloucester--For the first time, all the committees, Departments, Selectmen and Town Manager gathered in for a Long-Range Planning workshop held in late November and they presented their visions for each body. The intent was to gather all the committee chairs and members, staff, and the Town Manager and SelectBoard and discuss the road ahead for New Gloucester. The idea was to unite the individual committee and Department needs and visions into a cohesive whole for New Gloucester's Planning purposes.

The discussion was substantive, lasting well over two hours, with presentations from all the committees and departments.

The Monument will present excerpts from the individual reports, which were captured in minutes and from our own notes.

Attending: Kevin Sullivan, Selectman; Gary Sacco, Deputy Fire Chief; Debra Parks, CEO; James Isaacson, Planner; Steve Libby, Chairman, Board of Selectmen; Steve Chandler, Vice-Chairman, Board of Selectmen; Mary Rich, Deputy Rescue Chief; Don Libby, Zoning Committee; Tim Terranova, Library Board of Trustees; Ellie Fellers, Lewiston Sun Journal; Stephanie Bryan, Selectman; John Green, Fairgrounds Committee; Bill Waterman, Public Works Director; Lenora Conger, Selectman; Jean Libby, Planning Board; Tim Bartlett, Deputy Fire Chief; Linda Chase, recreation Committee; and Elizabeth Prata, The Monument.


The Fairgrounds Committee has met on a monthly basis since February 2003. Their task was to determine how the town could best use the New Gloucester Fairgrounds property, formerly Trotter's Park.

Since its inception, the committee has worked to remain objective and open to all possible ideas for the use of the property. The citizens of New Gloucester were polled to get a sense of what public opinion regarding the use of the property might be. To that the Fairgrounds Committee added their own careful consideration of the needs of the town and the public.

The committee has not determined an exact 5-year plan for the property. The results of their efforts to this point have made it clear that the property will best serve the community in some combination of open space, outdoor recreational facilities, event facilities and access to the natural resources that exist on the site.

The polling made it clear that the vast majority of participating citizens are willing to have the Town spend money on developing the Fairgrounds. Immediate concerns are to make the facility usable and safe as soon as possible so that the community can begin to enjoy its resources in the coming season. We then hope to create a strategy of annual staged development to achieve the eventual end of having a valuable, safe, and highly trafficked Fairground within a five to ten year time frame.