NORTHAMPTON — With the cut of a ribbon and launch of a dragon boat, the city of Northampton was once again one with the Connecticut River.
More than four dozen members of the community, city government and Northampton Community Rowing gathered Friday afternoon for the opening of the Connecticut River Greenway Park.
“For the first time, we have public access to the Connecticut River,” said Jonathan Wright, an early member of Northampton Community Rowing.
Wright, now a community volunteer, said the access is a space “at which to marvel at the place that we live.”
The park, off Damon Road, includes a large parking area, boat ramp and an extensive boat ramp and gangway to be used by “human-powered” crafts. The park is also handicap-accessible with ramps leading to the waterfront.
For the past year, Northampton Community Rowing, a volunteer-driven organization providing rowing programs, has been operating a rowing facility from the park.
The organization’s president, Dorrie Brooks, called the park “a gem this community has not found yet.”
Wright, along with Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, Brooks and other community members, ended the ceremony with a brief ride along the river in a dragon boat. “What an incredible resource, what a beautiful resource,” Narkewicz said.
The 11-acre plot of land was acquired from Lane Construction about five years ago.
The acreage is actually two properties – one to be held as conservation land and the other to be used for recreation – that the city manages as one.
The company donated the land to the city, according to Wayne Feiden, director of the city’s office of planning and sustainability.
Money for the more than $700,000 project came from a variety of sources, including $400,000 from the Massachusetts Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities program, $267,000 in Northampton Community Preservation Act funds and $117,000 from private donors raised through Northampton Community Rowing.
Feiden said in advance of the event that the city was founded in the 17th century because of the presence of the Connecticut River.
“When we became an industrial community in the 19th century, we turned our back on the Connecticut River,” he said.
Before the construction of the park, Feiden said there were only two ways the public could gain access to the river. The city’s goal, he said, was to figure out a way to make the river more a part of people’s daily lives.
In the future, the park will be connected to the regional rail trail network as well as Hatfield.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.