Bar Harbor committee discusses future needs of its parks and fields
Feb 04, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Paradis Ace Hardware.
BAR HARBOR—A routine meeting of the Bar Harbor Parks & Recreation Committee, February 2 led to discussion about potential changes and hopes for different recreation areas in town as well as the airing of a rumor that the Glen Mary Wading Pool would never be a place for swimming or wading again.
That rumor was not dispelled or enforced during the meeting because the plan for the area is in the hands of the Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association and the town council and town manager.
According to Town Manager James Smith, Tuesday, current talk of no wading area ever again is indeed just a rumor.
For years, Glen Mary has hosted a small wading area that drew families to the area. Toddlers splashed and doggy-paddled through the shallow water. Older children played. It also hosted ice skating and neighborhood hockey sometimes in the winters.
The wading pool at Glen Mary Park (located on 7.5 acres off Glen Mary Road and Waldron Road) was last upgraded in 2009 and by 2022 was no longer waterproof thanks to multiple broken PVC and black pipes beneath it and is in need of repairs.
The Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association (VIA) has been leasing the pool and surrounding woodland park to the town since 1995 and 2014 respectively. The lease for the pool expired in 2024 and its renegotiation was one of the components needed to move forward.
A member of the public spoke at the end of Monday’s parks and recreation meeting about concerns about the redevelopment of the area, referencing the last public meeting about it in October. That meeting was with the town council.
”We’ve heard nothing since. We’ve heard a lot of rumors,” a Glen Mary neighbor said during the meeting.
One of those rumors was that the area will never host a wading area again.
“That statement is a rumor. The town has not made any such decision,” Smith said. “We are currently working through an alternative pool plan, and that work may help inform whether a future pool could also support skating. However, no determination has been made at this time. If a final proposal for the Glen Mary Pool project were to conclude that ice skating is not feasible, that conclusion would be clearly disclosed to the council during its deliberations so the council could consider that impact as part of the anticipated redesign.”
He added that he’s expecting that alternative plan very soon.
“Once the town and VIA have had the opportunity to review it and determine whether it meets our needs, it will be brought back to the council for discussion,” Smith said.
When the 2022 closure was announced, residents expressed their concerns about both the lack of a place for young families to socialize as well as a safe and shallow place for so many kids to learn how to swim, sharing personal anecdotes of how they learned to swim there or how their children or grandchildren did as well. They also expressed displeasure that the wading pool had deteriorated so much that such a shut-down occurred.
In public meetings, the town manager and David Witham of the VIA have previously confirmed that there will be no pool or ice skating this year at the Glen Mary Park. Instead, the Witham Family Charitable Hotels funded via the VIA an ice skating rink on one of the Park Street ball fields, which was built by volunteers.
Witham Family Hotels Managing Director Jeremy Dougherty led volunteers as they assembled the 70-foot-by-90-foot rink in early January. Tim Rand, Todd Stanley, Tony Ricardo, and Patrick Murphy helped with the initial assembly, clearing the area and setting up the perimeter of the rink. The Bar Harbor Fire Department came in to assist filling the rink later in the afternoon.
During the February 2 exchange, Public Works Director Bethany Leavitt explained that the plan is not currently under her jurisdiction.
“Right now it’s being handled with the town council, town manager and VIA,” Leavitt told attendees, which Smith confirmed on Tuesday.
Committee member Jeff Dobbs said the plans are still being created and that there are a lot of state regulations which keeps increasing needs and price.
“We’re getting there and getting there and getting there,” Dobbs said, only for another cost or regulation or need to occur for the site.
Committee member Erin Cough said the land is leased to the town, which is who maintains it, but since the VIA is the one who owns the property, they are the ones who are creating the plan. Both Dobbs and Cough are also on the VIA board.
The member of the public speaking said she felt that the neighborhood has been shut out.
Cough said that since the October presentation to the council, the VIA has been working to get numbers back to the plan to get a solidified plan.
“We in the neighborhood have heard nothing,” the woman said.
Leavitt said the process currently is that the plan is with the town council. She also said that there had been multiple public meetings previously as past plans.
“Right now it’s used as a dog park,” the neighbor said. Adding that kids are also trying to build bike ramps in the area. “There’s no one caring.”
She said a lot of parks in the community get a lot of attention, but theirs does not.
Within the town’s proposed draft budget, Smith wrote in a memo explaining potential new town positions, “The second position is a part time parks employee focused on improving care and attention to town parks and public spaces, with particular emphasis on Glen Mary Park and the Athletic Fields.”
The memo further explains, “These are heavily used community assets that serve residents, families, and youth programs throughout the year. This position is intended to improve the quality and consistency of maintenance, enhance the condition of resident focused recreational areas, while providing stronger oversight of contracted services such as landscaping, flower beds, comfort stations, and other related work. This investment responds to resident feedback and works to support the town’s responsibility to maintain public spaces with greater consistency and stewardship.”
At $5 million, the last plans were deemed too costly by the VIA. A scaled-down design is still likely to cost approximately $3.2-3.6 million as of November. The VIA has asked if the town could be a potential financial partner.
Witham said in November that the revised plan, which was presented to the town council on October 21, is in the spirit of Glen Mary. It has room for activities and a deep enough center for kids to learn how to swim.
The other large difference besides the overall size, is the removal of the ice skating element. With the change in local winter weather conditions, the price of equipment to maintain ice and the specialized concrete that is resistant to skate blades would be exorbitant.
FUTURE PARK NEEDS—YMCA THOUGHTS
Leavitt had asked committee members about future needs they might see for the town’s parks.
Ann Tikkanen, who is the CEO of the MDI YMCA, said the Y, which is located on Park Street, is in what she called the early days of planning for a YMCA expansion. A possible field house would allow for covered year round pickleball, soccer, and other sports that involve kicking a ball, as well as learning how to ride a bike and scooter.
“It would be great to think about it in context with the athletic field next door,” Tikkanen said.
Tikkanen said the athletic field’s condition is not good due to uneven surfaces where water gathers.
“I think grading it and irrigation is the most important thing that we can do,” she said and that improving the field’s condition would improve it being able to be used for many sports.
It would be great to have a more robust conversation about more sports and also having more shade and bathroom renovation, Tikkanen said. She also suggested fencing by the crosswalk and she suggested Park Street potentially being closed for some hours during the summer from School Street to Main Street.
“So we wouldn’t have to inconvenience too terribly the neighbors,” she said of the potential of shutting a shortened section of Park Street rather than the whole street.
Smith said this was the first he’d heard of any potential closures of any of Park Street for portions of the summer, so he cannot speak to what was being envisioned.
“Any road closure would require council action and would involve input from the police chief and fire chief for public safety considerations, as well as the public works director, and potentially others, before I could recommend or support such a proposal. If such an idea were to move forward, there would be an opportunity for public input, including from abutters,” Smith said.
The committee members also quickly mentioned potentially having a light at the crosswalk by School Street and Park Street.
The town is working on plans for that street and area, including the comfort stations.
“The town is in the early stages of discussing a new master plan for the athletic field,” Smith said on Tuesday. “That plan will help frame any future changes or enhancements to the complex. There are several overlapping factors involved, including known stormwater system upgrades in the area and necessary improvements to Park Street itself. Because of this, it is likely that improvements to Park Street, stormwater infrastructure, and any athletic field enhancements will be coordinated.”
He said, “I want to be very clear that there is zero interest in removing any existing activities from the athletic field. All current uses are anticipated to remain. Any changes considered would be enhancements, not changes in use.”
Park Street’s repairs are not simple, he said.
“Recent investigation revealed that there is essentially no proper road base beneath the pavement. As a result, any future work on Park Street will require construction of a full road base. That level of work also creates an opportunity to evaluate curbing, crosswalks, traffic calming measures, parking, and other related improvements necessary for the street. A detailed timeline has not yet been established,” he said.
During the committee meeting, Dobbs spoke of old plans that had once called for the extension of Harborview Park with a two-layer pier, to increase the amount of square footage, and allow for an additional dinghy float. There would also be space to rent to store kayaks in that plan.
“It’s ancient history now,” Dobbs said.
“I would encourage anyone with concerns or ideas, including neighbors, to reach out to me directly. I am always willing to hear feedback and discuss potential options,” Smith said.
PARK USES FOR ANNUAL EVENTS APPROVED
The committee approved multiple requests for use of the town parks for annual events.
The only request that required a bit of discussion was that of Bar Harbor (MDI) Rotary Club’s need to occupy the ball field off Park Street for more than 48 hours to hold its annual Seafood Festival and Blueberry Breakfast for the Fourth of July. Because of the timing of the holiday, to get the tents down the day after the Fourth (a Sunday), Wallace Tents would have to call in a work crew.
Representing the Rotarians, Dean Read explained that the 48-hour rule makes it tight for Wallace Tent and its workers on the holiday weekend.
“This year they called up and said that they’d really like to give them Sunday off,” Read explained.
The committee members who were there and could vote unanimously recommended the extension to the council. John Kelly and Greg Veillieux had excused absences. Jeff Dobbs ran the meeting. Erin Cough and non-voting member Ann Tikkanen were also present.
The board also approved the Bar Harbor Chamber’s Memorial Day Observance Ceremony on the Village Green on May 25 and its Annual Art in the Park on the Village Green on June 20 and June 21, 2026; Seaside Cinema Series 2026 on Agamont Park on multiple Wednesdays throughout the summer; and its Annual Village Holidays 2026 on the Village Green on December 4.
“It’s been a long standing thing that we’re very proud of,” Bar Harbor Chamber Director Everal Eaton said of Art in the Park, which is coming up on its 75th year.
“Keep up the good work,” Dobbs told him.
The committee also approved the YWCA MDI’s Annual Island Artists Spring Fair in the Park on the Village Green, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, 2026 and the Annual Island Artists Labor Day Fair in the Park on the Village Green, September 5 and September 6.
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