Federal grant boosts Claremont's Sugar River river walk project

Federal money is finally giving Claremont’s Sugar River river walk more than a promise. The latest grant, worth up to $850,000 in federal funding, is aimed at turning 6.5 acres of vacant riverfront land into an outdoor recreation corridor, but the immediate work is still the unglamorous kind: environmental testing, cleanup planning and design.

The money builds on an $800,000 EPA Brownfields Multipurpose Grant the city secured for assessment, cleanup and reuse planning along the north side of the Sugar River. Federal grant documents say that funding will pay for supplemental Phase II environmental site assessments at the 6.9-acre former Joy Manufacturing/Foundry site and the 1.5-acre former Synergy site, along with additional testing at other parcels if needed and cleanup work at the former Synergy site. The city says the brownfields grant can be used for up to five years, which means Claremont has time to keep the project moving, but not enough money yet to finish it.

That distinction matters. The riverfront property has sat dormant for more than two decades, according to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and the redevelopment area includes vacant former industrial manufacturing sites that once helped drive Claremont’s economy. A University of Connecticut Technical Assistance to Brownfields Program report found the site’s biggest hurdles were impaired access, its relatively small size, flooding and drainage problems, and environmental constraints. But the same report pointed to the Sugar River waterfront as the project’s biggest opportunity.

City leaders have been treating the river walk as more than a beautification project. Claremont’s steering committee is handling community engagement, reuse and cleanup planning, site assessment and remediation, and the city has linked the riverfront work to broader downtown efforts, including Route 12 and North Street improvements. If the property can be made safe and accessible, the city could gain public river access, better pedestrian connections and a new destination close to downtown businesses and community events.

One big piece is still unfunded. Rep. Maggie Goodlander’s fiscal year 2026 community project funding request sought $1.4 million for the Synergy site riverwalk phase, with money for final design, ADA-compliant pedestrian access, site improvements and landscaping. That request shows how much work remains before residents see a completed river walk. For now, the new federal money does not finish the project, but it does move Claremont from planning toward the hard part of making the Sugar River edge usable again.