By Akanimo Sampson
With the construction of the Mill City Park in Franklin Falls that is expected to begin construction in July of 2021, New Hampshire is slated to receive the first whitewater park in the state.
The first phase of construction will be a timber-frame pavilion, parking lots, and two sets of standing waves in the riverbed.
In 2022, construction is scheduled to begin on refurbishment of Trestle Bridge, an old railroad bridge, into a footbridge to connect the Winnipesaukee River Trail to Mill City Park and the downtown area.
Eventually, the park will feature sites for camping, climbing walls, trails for walking and bicycling, an amphitheater, and historic features around remnants of three mills that once stood there.
Mill City Park at Franklin Falls has been years in the making. With perpetual waves built into Winnipesaukee River for kayaking, boogie board, and whitewater rafting year-round.
The opening is scheduled for the end of September. The project will break ground on 13 acres of city-owned land that will become a free community adventure park, featuring mountain biking and climbing. Campsite and cabin rentals will help fund the park. Officials expect more than 160,000 visitors a year.
Founder of Mill City Park, Marty Parichand, says “there are about 300 whitewater parks in the country, there’s over 30 in Colorado alone, but there’s no one up here.”
Franklin City Manager, Judie Milner, said; ” we are re-inventing ourselves in the outdoor recreation community and the whitewater park is the anchor, but we have several other things going on. This area around us is kind of on the outskirts of the Lakes Region and has been forgotten, so all of this area we’ll build back up.”
The purpose behind the park was to bring tourism to a city that needs it. The river will be maintained thanks to cabin and tent site rental fees.
But the use of the trails, park-out area, and whitewater features at the new park will be completely free.
