BANGOR, Maine — Cascade Park in Bangor is set to get some needed repairs, and the city also plans to start the application process for the 6.6-acre park to officially be recognized as a historic place.
Built in 1934, Cascade Park was part of President Theodore Roosevelt's New Deal plan.
Elizabeth Stevens in the Bangor Public Library's department of genealogy and local history describes the time as "special."
"Back in the Depression and Roosevelt had all these programs that were supposed to provide work to people, so they weren't so impoverished," she said.
By the 1970s, the park fell into disrepair, but the community gathered in 1987 to fix the site.
Since then, the park has not seen major maintenance, leading to Bangor Parks and Recreation to draft their Cascade Park Master Plan 2024. Tracy Willette, director of parks and recreation, says planning began a year ago.
"It also deals with some of the landscaping," Willette said. "The fountain and the waterfall here. Some of it is the original mechanics from when the park was made in the 30s."
As repairs are completed, Willette says the city will be applying for state and federal certifications of historical significance. The goal is to get Cascade Park on the National Parks Service's Register of Historic Places.
If approved, the park would be the 41st Bangor site on the list.
Not far from Cascade Park is Mt. Hope Cemetery which was deemed a historic site in 1974.
Second-generation superintendent Stephen Burrill says that the cemetery does get many visitors. However, not necessarily always for historical reasons.
"Most people are looking for where the ['Pet Cemetery'] was filmed,” he said. "I just had a couple in here from England; I’ve had a couple in here from Australia."
Willette says that Bangor Parks and Recreation will begin the application process this fall. He hopes that by summer, Cascade Park will officially be a historic place.