Yarmouth residents will have to adjust their summer park plans, as the popular Royal River Park will be closed for construction from May through September. The park, with its wooded path, grassy field and waterfall views, gets up to 3,200 visitors each month in the summer.

“We know it’s going to have a big impact on people’s lives, but it’s also showing … why we need to renovate this park,” said Karyn MacNeill, director of Yarmouth Community Services.

The park, bordered by East Elm Street, the William H. Rowe School and the Royal River, is undergoing renovations to its walking paths, upgrades to its amenities and the addition of lights.

As part of this project, the park’s tennis and pickleball courts were repaved last summer. Sixteen trees were cut down for the new path route in March and more construction is expected to start on May 18.

The improvements have been needed for a while, said MacNeill. In 2016, Yarmouth Community Services staff determined the paths needed renovations. The town determined that wider park improvements were worth pursuing as part of a larger project. Upgrades now include adding lights to the path that is often used after dark to get to the bus stop, increasing the accessibility of trails and improving parking and lawn drainage.

The park was originally created in installments over the 1970s and 1980s with funds from the town and federal government, and these improvements are financed similarly. For the $1.1 million project, the town received $455,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a federal program for outdoor recreation areas. Yarmouth will cover the remaining costs through tax increment financing funds and the capital improvement budget, through which the town has been saving for this project for eight years, said MacNeill.

Yarmouth Community Services typically hosts numerous events at the park through its summer art series, including outdoor concerts and movie nights. 

“We do have extensive use of the park, so we know this is going to impact many people’s experience this summer,” said MacNeill.

With the park closed this summer, pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the path will be rerouted. MacNeill hopes to host other pop-up events around town instead of their typical summer programming. Yarmouth Community Services staff also plan to use this closure to introduce Yarmouth residents to other walking paths and parks in the community.

The park will reopen after construction is completed around mid-September, and town staff and volunteers will plant new vegetation this fall or next spring.

Yarmouth Community Services plans to hold a ribbon-cutting event after September to mark the park’s relaunch and celebrate the beloved Yarmouth gathering place, said MacNeill.