Mill Villages Park Progressing

Work has been progressing at the Mill Villages Park in South Grafton, Town Planner Stephen Bishop reports.

You just haven’t seen it.

Much of the work done so far at the site at 61 Main St. has been done underground, with water and sewer pipes installed.

But with that portion of the project complete, work has begun on the visible aspects of the park. Lights have been installed and a portion of the sidewalk has been put into place.

 “Within a month, this is going to look like a park,’’ Bishop said.

Other features of the park, including benches, bike racks and waste receptacles, are ready to go, but won’t be put in place until the spring, he said.

A centerpiece of the park is the pavilion, which will be wired for electricity and will be large enough to accommodate concerts and other community events.

“There’s been a lot of interest in larger events’’ being hosted at the park, Bishop said.

The park is part of a multi-level effort to create a “renaissance’’ for South Grafton, he said.

Many have come to look at the park as the “South Grafton Common,’’ he said.

The park represents the culmination of years of effort to transform a former parking lot across from the old Fisherville Mill site in South Grafton.

Since the mill burned down in 1999, the parking lot across the street had stood vacant and neglected.

Then a group of volunteers formed the Fisherville & Farnumsville Streetscape Committee and, working in conjunction with local, state and federal officials, secured and raised funds to create a park on the site.

Bishop expects an official ribbon-cutting will be held in late spring.

And if the crowd that attended the April ribbon-cutting for the construction phase is any indication, an enthusiastic community will come out to celebrate.

The project has “reinforced an identity for this area,’’ Bishop said.