FARMINGTON — The final touches for improvements to Meetinghouse Park were completed Wednesday with the installation of new steps for the gazebo and a fence along the newly paved walkway leading to it.

Projects begun last year included creating handicapped accessibility to the park from sidewalks on both Main and Pleasant Streets, a fence along the southern side of the park and new pavement along walkways.

“This is the final project,” Greg Soule, shop manager of the town’s Public Works Department, said. Ron Jalbert and Wes Witherly were working with him.

Armed with black spray paint, Soule touched up spots that had been missed.

He built the new fence and the one along the park exterior, Witherly said. 

Soule also built the steel steps, which were covered with plastic boards, according to Public Works Director Denis Castonguay. Soule built the fence and steps from scratch, Castonguay said.

Due to the gazebo’s historical significance, the new steps needed to look as much like the original ones as possible, Soule said.

After widening and paving walkways, the path leading to the gazebo was closer to a steep banking, Castonguay said. The fence provides safety and protection for those using the walkway. 

The bank received a scattering of grass seed to help with erosion, based on foot traffic on the slope.

The town undertook portions of a project helped by a Community Development Block Grant that made improvements to the park, widened Pleasant Street and improved sidewalks partially down Front Street.

The town still needs to resurface Front Street, a project the department hopes to complete this summer, he said.

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