LEWISTON — City councilors would like to spend money for a downtown improvement plan on Simard/Payne Memorial Park and access to the Androscoggin River.

City Administrator Ed Barrett said he would work with the Planning Board to figure out the best way to spend the $720,000 left in a federal grant that paid for the Riverfront Island Master Plan.

“We know that $720,000 won’t go very far,” Barrett said. “It sounds like a lot of money until you start doing capital improvements, and then it gets eaten up pretty quickly. So we certainly cannot address all of these items.”

The master plan, written by Boston-based consulting firm Goody Clancy, shows how the city can use and re-energize Lewiston’s Riverfront Island, the area between the river and the canals, from Island Point to Cedar Street.

It includes the Bates Mill complex, Simard/Payne Memorial Park, the Franco-American Heritage Center and Museum L-A. Councilors approved the plan earlier this summer.

The master plan calls for a Lewiston Riverwalk mirroring the path in Auburn, from Cedar Street and the Lown Peace Bridge to Island Point. It calls for a tree-lined walking path all along the canal system, and expanded uses in the area, including more market-rate housing units, more office jobs and more restaurants.

It also calls for demolishing Bates Mill No. 5, the saw-tooth-roofed building on Canal Street.

“A good starting point would be to look at the general estimate of what the costs could be, so we can set some priorities and decide how far down the list we can really get,” Barrett said.

He said the city is seeking a grant through the Maine Department of Transportation to extend the riverside path from Simard/Payne Park south to Cedar Street and the Lown Bridge.

“That would tie into Cedar Street and also a project on the other side of the river that Auburn is pursuing,” Barrett said. “That could eventually provide a loop back around to the park and back across the pedestrian bridge.”

He recommended councilors use $720,000 remaining from the federal grant to build a gateway to Simard/Payne Park on Lincoln Street, between the Lewiston House of Pizza and the Grand Trunk Railroad building.

Councilor Mark Cayer said he was most interested in working in Simard/Payne Park itself — possibly building an amphitheater along the river.

“I remember the one message we heard throughout this whole process was: Get people to the water,” Cayer said. “Even if we did just that project, that might take all of this money to do it right.”

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