Arundel Town Hall & Arundel Community Trails Grand Opening

It was a very special day for Arundel on Saturday morning 10/17/20. Both the Town of Arundel and The Arundel Conservation Trust (ACT) had their official opening ceremonies on their properties on Limerick Road. The Town opened the new and impressive Municipal Building and ACT opened their Arundel Community Trails. Both organizations had worked closely together to buy the 47-acre property and a beautiful building and community trail system was the result.

A chilly and steady autumn rain did not dampen the spirts of the gathered supporters, but following Covid-19 social gathering rules did limit the crowd to about 45 people. The ACT Ribbon Cutting group included all five Selectmen, the ACT Board of Directors, our generous Bike Trail sponsors and ACT trail building volunteers and families. The ribbon cutting ceremony was facilitated by the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce. ACT Board members Tanja Schoenbrod, ACT’s Vice President and Chair of the Trailblazers and Matt Cooper, Chair of the ACT Bike Trail Project did the honors of cutting the ribbon to the new trail system. They, together with the ACT Board and our many volunteers have worked countless hours to make Arundel Community Trails a reality, bringing amazing energy, passion, and vision to the effort.

The newly opened trail system included a first of its kind in Southern Maine, mountain bike flow trail. This bike trail, built by Portland’s Maine Trail Builders, is over 1,500 feet long running through the forest, has more than 60 features such as rollers, berms and switchbacks turns. It is part of a multi-phase mountain bike trail project that when completed next year by ACT, will include a ¾ mile multi-use biking and walking flow trail, connecting to the Eastern Trail where it crosses the Kennebunk River. We are still actively fundraising for next phases, so please consider a donation towards our flow trail project.

In the short time since its opening, the “Roll Um Easy” bike trail (named by the Gordon Foundation in memory of Dr. Wesley D. Mills) has been an immediate success. Children of all ages have tried their skill, ranging from Arundel Selectmen Dan Dubois who took a ride with his GoPro helmet camera and stated that he “can’t wait ‘til ACT builds more” to seven year old Luke Wasson, who, when asked by his mother to rate the trial on a 1 to 10 scale, declared the trail a “300”!

In addition to the Bike Trail, ACT officially opened their four-season multi-use, dog friendly trail for walkers, skiers, bikers, and snowshoers. The trail meanders through the ACT parcel from the trailhead behind the Town Municipal Building to the Eastern Trail, with a spur trail to the Kennebunk River thanks to the generous donation of an easement. This trail, hand built totally by volunteers, includes several bridges over streams and stretches of boardwalks crossing over boggy patches. The trail also boasts two Eagle Scout projects, one being a 40-foot bridge built by Jacob Pisani of Troop 330 as his project and four 8-foot benches along the trail built as part of Robin Gorham’s project for Troop 304.

As noted above, the ACT trail system on Limerick Road and the new Town Municipal Building are a cooperative venture to help our town build community amongst residents of all ages. It’s a special place where “Arundelites” and people from our greater three-town community can gather as neighbors and friends to enjoy what is special about Arundel. Safe parking for the trail system is available behind the Municipal Building and access to restrooms will soon be available during daylight hours at the Community Room entrance.

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