A plan for overhauling Simard-Payne Memorial Park is complete, and officials are now faced with funding and implementing the changes in a riverfront area deemed ripe for growth.

The final plan shared with city officials last month includes major improvements to the amphitheater and riverfront areas, along with a new all-season pavilion for performances and other events that could also be used as an ice rink in the winter.

Other amenities called for include a new playground space with a splash pad and climbing wall, a dog park, expanded use of the “Red Shop” building, canal enhancements and improved pedestrian access and circulation.

The city’s consultant on the design, Yarmouth-based Viewshed, has been developing the park plans for more than year after Lewiston updated its Riverfront Island Master Plan. With the Maine MILL museum under construction and hundreds of housing units in the works at the Continental Mill building, officials see the riverfront area as a target for economic development and the park as a community centerpiece.

“In the next two years, the area around the Androscoggin River will see incredible development, from new market-rate housing to exciting economic opportunities,” said City Administrator Bryan Kaenrath on Wednesday. “Greenways and riverfront open spaces play a powerful role in creating healthier, more livable cities, and as we build up the riverfront, the Simard-Payne Park (plan) ensures this area remains vibrant, accessible, and welcoming.”

While the park is currently used for large and well-attended annual community events including the L/A Balloon Festival and the Dempsey Challenge, there are higher hopes among staff and elected officials that the park can get much more daily use.

Kaenrath said the plan is “a critical part of Lewiston’s overall revitalization strategy, balancing recreation, community events, and open space in ways that benefit everyone.”

Jessica Higgins, a landscape designer at Viewshed, said the new pavilion space, which could be under construction as soon as this spring, will be “a signature element of the park,” with a covered and flexible event space that can be shifted to work for a variety of uses.

The designers had similar ideas for the area surrounding the Red Shop, which once regulated the flow of water in the canal and served as a machine shop for the Bates Mill complex. Higgins said they want to make the section “very active” given its location at the entrance to the park, and the plan envisions a dining plaza with outdoor seating.

Lewiston Rowing, which currently leases the 2,400-square-foot building, will host an open house event Nov. 19 to solicit feedback on what residents would like to see take shape there.

The organization said the building’s location makes it “an ideal spot to hold river-focused events, host parties, run classes, provide youth-focused activities, and more.”

Previous renderings have envisioned a coffee shop or other business there.

During a recent City Council workshop, officials appeared to support the final plan, with Councilor Scott Harriman stating it’s “really exciting to see all the things that can happen here.”

Mayor Carl Sheline said he’s particularly excited about a proposed pedestrian bridge connecting the northeast corner of the park to Oxford Street.

Councilor Josh Nagine said that while quite a few community stakeholders were involved in the design, he urged residents to reach out to councilors to advocate for or against certain design elements.

Public Works Director Kevin Gagne said city staff will soon begin putting together next year’s Capital Improvement Plan, which he said includes park upgrades over the next three years.

Some area work has already begun, including an extension of Beech Street and riverwalk and landscaping amenities tied to the Continental Mill project to the tune of $1.3 million, which was funded through congressionally directed spending secured by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

The plan also calls for enhancements to the canal along Oxford Street involving a long-discussed canal steps project inviting the public to interact with the water.

City staff said Wednesday that both the pavilion and the Oxford Street canal steps projects are next, and will likely go out to bid by early spring.