LEWISTON — Downtown neighbors, residents and property owners said Wednesday they want better access to the Androscoggin River and canals, improved recreation paths and destinations, and niche retail on Lewiston’s riverfront.

About 54 people attended a public discussion about a master plan for the city’s Riverfront Island, defined as the area between the canals and the Androscoggin River from Island Point to Cedar Street.

That area includes the Bates Mill Enterprise Complex and Bates Mill No. 5, Simard-Payne Memorial Park (formerly Railroad Park), upper Lincoln Street and the Franco-American Heritage Center.

The area has a lot going for it, according to urban planning consultant David Spillane, principal partner in Boston-based planning firm Goody Clancy.

“It’s important we recognize that parts of this area really are unique and really are of high quality,” Spillane said. “This is a place and a riverfront that these communities can really be proud of going forward. The things that don’t fit with that image can really detract from success here.”

The city hired Goody Clancy earlier this year to help draft a development plan. The consultants took a walking tour of the area in September, capping months spent poring over previous studies of the downtown. After their walking tour in September, they spent several days meeting with residents, business owners and volunteers.

The consultants on Wednesday discussed what they’d learned about downtown Lewiston and Auburn and how that compared with similar river cities, including Chattanooga, Tenn., Hartford, Conn. and Richmond, Va.

Spillane said the L-A riverfront could support up to 400 new units of higher-end housing, much of it built in renovated mill buildings. Those would appeal to young adults starting out in professional lives and retired seniors.

“This would be a very different kind of housing than the single-family residential that’s typical in the community,” Spillane said. “It’s the kind of housing that appeals to younger folks and older folks, the kind of people who have little interest in mowing the lawn.”

Better housing could attract new retail, Spillane said. The most likely would be niche retail, including small businesses that would draw in visitors and a specialty grocery. It could also attract 14,000 to 20,000 square feet of new restaurants, cafes and clubs.

He said there’s significant potential for office and medical space growth, as well as art and cultural development.

Much of that success depends on giving residents good access to the river and to riverside recreation, including athletic paths. The current riverside walking path goes from Auburn, across the river and into Simard-Payne Memorial Park before ending abruptly.

“We’d need to find a way to continue that access farther along the river,” Spillane said.

The consultants next will pair the ideas they heard at Wednesday’s forum with real-world planning, design and economic forecasts to come up with a list of alternatives. The public will get to see them at a second public meeting in mid-January.

“Then we’ll show you three different alternatives of what the future might look like,” Spillane said. “Then we’ll have the discussion about which one is better, which one could happen sooner, which one would be better in the long run and what that might mean in terms of what you like and what you don’t like.”

Project Manager Amy Kohn said consultants are taking suggestions at the project’s website, www.riverfrontislandmasterplan.com.

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