Deck, Shady Bosque or Serpent? Take the New Pairpoint Park Survey Today!
Exeter, NH - April 21st, 2025: The Pairpoint Park Stakeholders Advisory Committee have published a new survey to gather feedback on three proposed design directions for Pairpoint Park.
Take the survey now!
Project Background
Which of three proposed designs do you prefer for Pairpoint Park, the pocket park between the Chocolatier and Il Cornicello? The Town of Exeter would like to know.
Citizens are encouraged to complete a questionnaire that will be open for less than three weeks. The questionnaire asks people:
- to rank the three proposals put forth;
- to explain why they prefer the proposal they chose;
- then to rank themes for the park (for example, should it promote Exeter History versus local flora and fauna); and
- lastly to rank important features.
“Citizen input is vital to planning this park,” says Amanda Kelly, a member of the Pairpoint Park Stakeholders Advisory Committee. “We only have a little more than two weeks to run this survey, so please make your voices heard.”
The survey is available on the Town website and at [website]. It will conclude at 11 PM on Friday, May 9.
The park is 1/14th of an acre located between Water Street and the Exeter River. “It’s a special piece of land,” states Devon Skerritt, also on the committee. “This small but central space has the potential to be a beautiful gem, a signature piece for Exeter. The park can be a welcome respite from the bustle of Water Street and a peaceful place to view the river at the site of the old dam.”
The land was donated to the town by Nancy Batcheldor and Elliot Berkowitz at the end of 2023 under the stipulations that it be a park and that it be named Pairpoint Park. It was previously the site of a jewelry store and an apartment building. Those structures unfortunately burned down in a catastrophic fire in 1990. The Town cleared most of the remains of the fire immediately after it burned down, burying the rest. The land remained in private hands, open and unimproved ever since. Ownership of the site changed several times until, finally, Ms. Batcheldor and Mr. Berkowitz donated it to the Town for a park a little over a year ago.
The Select Board set up an Advisory Committee last year to get public input and to help design the park. The committee gathered preliminary information in a first survey of the public and tabling that ran in November and December.
From that initial feedback, they were able to give direction to Jen Martel, who sits on the committee and is a landscape architect. Martel was able to propose three design concepts to place before the public.
“This second survey is our effort to get the public’s input on those three design concepts,” said Steve Jones, chairman of the park Advisory Committee. “Each of the design concepts is beautiful. What we’re interested in knowing is which one folks prefer!” Jones said.
The Advisory Committee plans to discuss the results of the survey at their next meeting, in mid-May, vote on a preferred option at that time, and then present all the three options, with one preferred, to the Town Select Board early in June as part of its request to begin fundraising through grants and donations.
