Watson Park - A Testament to Patience

Good things come to those who wait, and thanks to the patience of Harold and Barbara Watson, Merrimack has a jewel in the center of town that’s getting shinier every day.

When people drive through town for the first time, one of the first landmarks they see is a beautiful park on the shores of the Souhegan River. Just more than a decade ago the same piece of property was still a landmark, but instead it was described as an industrial dump with a bunch of green buildings falling down.

Years earlier Harcross/Elementis Chemical had left town for greener pastures in Nashua, and Merrimack was left with the reminder of a chemical plant, tannery, chicken processing plant and more that had occupied the space for more than a century. The property had been on the market for a while with little to no interest until Harold Watson, a former Air Force Colonel and successful real estate developer, started driving by it regularly and creating a vision.

Mr. Watson didn’t focus on the years of decay exposed behind a barbed wire fence; instead he saw the promise of a park on a river, complete with grills, picnic benches and tranquility. A place where a father and son could go for a game of catch and some fresh air or where someone could read a book and listen to themselves think. He saw a place for Merrimack citizens to relax and enjoy part of their town.

He did his homework and proceeded to canvas the community to see if there was support for such a park. The response was unanimous, it was a great idea. But don’t forget this wasn’t Harold Watson’s first rodeo. He had developed a reputation as one of the shrewdest developers in New England, and although he and his wife were prepared to buy the property for hundreds of thousands of dollars, he still wanted good value at a fair cost.

In 2003, after two years of dealings with Harcross/ Elementis, the Department of Environmental Services and the town of Merrimack, the Watsons purchased the 12-acre site and donated it to the town. They purchased the property with the understanding that some "I"s needed to be dotted and "T"s need to be crossed and a little work needed to be done on the site before the DES would give the thumbs up to take down the fence and open it for the enjoyment of Merrimack citizens.

Unfortunately, the DES moved slower then a snail with arthritis, and over the next seven years, there was enough red tape covering Watson Park to wrap all of Santa’s presents seven times over. Just when it seemed everything was set, something else would turn up, time and time again.

In October 2006, it seemed like the long ordeal was over and Watson Park was dedicated, with the belief that it would be opened the following spring.

Unfortunately winter turned to spring and the fence stayed up, seasons kept changing and years continued to go by. During this time it would have been easy to get discouraged and walk away, but thanks to the Watsons and volunteers such as Phil Straight and Jackie Flood of the Watson Park Committee, stuff got done, even if the park was still stuck behind a barbed wire fence. The committee met monthly and with help from the DPW kept the grass cut, built a parking lot and kept doing everything possible, short of taking down the fence in the middle of the night, to ensure that the park would be ready to shine when the letter of approval from the DES showed up.

Although I believe the DES took far too long to get the park open, I will concede that they had to cover themselves and were thorough in their testing and resolve to get Harcross/Elementis to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the property was clean and safe, which it is. And we have a decade of testing to prove it.

Finally, as 2010 and a new decade arrived, so did the long awaited approval letter from the DES. Hallelujah.

Last spring the fence came down, the park was rededicated and all the preparation of the preceding seven years paid off. Grills were in place, as well as picnic tables, benches, gardens, a flagpole, a volleyball court and dozens of freshly planted shrubbery. In fact, if you drive by it on a hot day you will see it is Merrimack’s newest beach, with kids of all ages cooling themselves in the Souhegan and then sunning themselves on the sandbars.

The park has also hosted many community and school events, most recently a town wide yard sale, which drew more than a thousand people. This type of progress could have never happened in one short year if the Watsons, Flood, Straight and many others hadn’t been working nonstop, planning for the day the fence came down.

Years from now, residents will drive down DW Highway and marvel at the beauty of Watson Park, probably assuming that the land always looked so pristine. Hopefully they will stop and read the plaque on the big rock in front of the park and learn a little about the man blessed with a lot of patience and an even bigger heart, who knew that good things come to those who wait.