Due to great turnout and excellent community participation, the Athol UrbanRiver Visions Charrette was a productive, successful event! The charrette took place on September 28, 2002 and drew over 50 interested citizens and local and state officials who shared their ideas and enthusiasm for Athol's downtown waterfront.

Phil Delorey, who at the time had recently been appointed as the Town Planner, said that the town was very excited about the opportunity to connect the downtown and the river and they hoped to create a riverwalk which would "bring people to the water's edge, to let them see and experience this beautiful river running right through the heart of Athol's downtown."

Some of the key initiatives discussed at the charrette included:

• Enhancing access to the Millers River;
  
• Strengthening the downtown; and
  
• Creating a riverwalk along the Millers River.
  

Athol has made good progress on realizing these ideas with funding from UrbanRiver Visions and other sources. For more details, click on Implementation below.

For more information on Athol, including buildout maps and statistics, please visit EOEA's Smart Growth and Urban Environments resource page for Athol.