Village Green

Village Green. . , Located in the center of town, this 1.5 acre site was originally home to the Grand Central Hotel, which was torn down in 1899. That same year, the Town of Bar Harbor purchased the land, set it aside as public open space and leased it to the Village Improvement Association. The VIA's first civic improvement was building the bandstand in 1899, followed by a bench and stone wall in 1904 to honor local veterans who had served in the armed forces. The cast iron town clock, donated in 1892 by Mrs. William Tucker of Boston, was moved to the green in 1905 and remains a civic landmark today. In 1909, John Callendar Livingston donated the 17TH century tiered Italian fountain in the center of the park in memory of his wife, Julia., In 1920 landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, who chaired the VIA's Planning Committee, was asked to create a new design for the high-use park. Farrand saw the need for “an intelligent effort made and a well though out plan” for Bar Harbor to remain attractive to tourists. In her new design, some original plantings were altered and the bandstand was relocated to the north side of the green. New diagonal pathways intersected at the fountain's cobblestones with beds of colorful perennials. In the 1990s a new granite seat wall and public transport plaza for the Island Explorer were built, and in 2010 additional improvements were made to the footpaths, lighting, plantings and fountain area.