On Thursday, Nov 2, a meeting was held to review the results of the survey that had been presented to the public to gather input about the proposed master plans for Robie Park. This was an opportunity for the community to give input on the three design proposals and a number of statements before the finalized plan is presented to the Gorham Town Council for approval and budgeting.

The meeting was led by Caitlin Aceto, a partner in Aceto Landscape Architects, who had prepared the plans. She reported that 456 people had responded to the survey and went through each question and the percentages of recorded responses.

The majority of the respondents to the survey preferred plan #1, wanted some lawn space, two basketball courts off to the side, a bike skills safety area for younger children, a shade structure, a nature play area, and a sidewalk on Ball Park Road.

There are many questions yet to be answered including funding for these improvements and which department within the town will maintain the park. Some money has been set aside by the recent town council, but it is clear that there will need to be some public and private funding as well.

There was overwhelming support in the crowd to preserve as many trees as possible and not to remove any trees for lawn space, sidewalks, or structures.

Marty Miller, who walks the park daily with her dog, collected glass and hard plastic pieces that she felt might cut animals or young children. She brought these pieces to artist Tammy Mullen, who displays and sells her artwork at Shenanigans LLC in downtown Gorham. Tammy made a mosaic with the small pieces of glass. This mosaic, a picture of Robie Park, states, “Robie Park creatures prefer grass to glass.”