MADAWASKA, Maine – One small town in northern Maine has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars to help fund the first phase of renovations to its park.
Through donations from residents and local businesses, the town of Madawaksa has raised roughly $231,000 without having to boost its municipal budget through local tax dollars.
Town officials hope to break ground on the project as soon as the ground thaws, and to complete the work by the Fourth of July.
A significant portion of this money was raised at a municipal telethon event in late 2025. The two-hour telethon raised over $180,000 for Bicentennial Park renovations. The telethon was a result of dozens of local community members working together, from students at the Madawaska Middle/High School working with the town’s local access Channel 16 WOWL, and hosted by Jason Parent, executive director of the Aroostook County Action Program and Channel X Radio.
The planned park renovations include amphitheater seating, a new gazebo, and electrical hookups for food trucks or musicians.
Madawaska Town Manager David Daigle said that the town began reaching out to community partners and businesses in late 2024 about the renovations and fundraising. From there, interest in the project grew and culminated in the telethon event. The telethon idea came from Jane Carter, a local resident whose brother, Richard Corbin, held a telethon for the town’s Acadian Festival about 50 years ago.
“So one fine morning I got up and came over to see Dave, and I said ‘Well, he did it back then, maybe it’s something we can do now,” Carter said.
The town also contributed about $36,000 to the project through tax acquired properties, Daigle said.
In addition to what has already been raised, Daigle said the town has received a couple other large commitments that it will announce at its next board meeting in late April.
Carter also helped the town reconnect with former exchange student Carol Botelho, who offered the services of her Brazil-based design firm, Trae Studio Architecture & Design, free of charge.
Botelho stayed with Carter and her family while living in Madawaska as an exchange student.
“So when we started talking about the project and Dave said we were going to need an architect, my wheels were turning and I told him I had an exchange student who lived at home and she’s become an architect,” Carter said. “And the minute I talked to her, it was a definite yes.”
Daigle said he hopes that the work will be finished in time to plan a celebration or event to coincide with the park’s anniversary and the 250th anniversary of the United States. As the park’s name suggests, it was built in 1976 to celebrate the country’s bicentennial.
“That’s our ambitious goal,” Daigle said.
Over the past decade Madawaska has held a series of events at the Bicentennial Park called “Music in the Park,” which is coordinated by Corbin and open to the public. Carter said the event can bring in close to 300 attendees. The music event will be temporarily held in the town’s Multi-Purpose Building on 7th Avenue as the park renovations take place.
After the first phase of work is done, subsequent upgrades will include zip lines for kids, additional seating areas, and an area for skateboarding, Daigle said
“It brings people together in different ways,” Daigle said. “If you’ve got Music in the Park and adults bring their children, they might want something for them to do.”
He said it could also become a good place for other events like weddings.
Many of the donations came from businesses and residents, but the town also received some contributions from former residents who have since moved away.
“They’re far away, but their hearts are still in Madawaska,” Carter said. “That’s why they donated.”
