As kids, Danny and Jon Shaw cooled off on hot summer days by plunging into a leech-infested neighborhood swimming hole in West Gorham, known to them as “the project.”

Now that the two brothers are grown and own a successful business, Shaw Brothers Construction, they want to give the town something they never had – a park with a beach.

The two brothers are on the verge of giving the town “Shaw Park,” 7.5 acres with a ball field and a pristine stretch of the Presumpscot River perfect for swimming, boating and fishing. Citizens will be able to access the $1 million park by Partridge Lane off Sebago Lake Road (Route 237).

Danny Shaw is meeting next month with Gorham Town Manager David Cole to work out the remaining details of handing the park over to the town. “We want the town to use it this year,” Shaw said.

Jon Shaw graduated from Gorham High School in 1973, and Danny graduated in 1975. They first thought of giving a park to the town about six years ago.

Danny Shaw said they wanted to give the town a park so that they would be remembered and because citizens have been tolerant of their gravel pits. The Shaw brothers have 11 gravel pits, some of which are located outside of Gorham.

The park will be near one of the larger pits, a 200-acre gravel pit and quarry along Gambo Road. In recent years, the town approved turning over to the brothers a dead-ended portion of the road and allowing them to expand their gravel pit to the other side of it. As part of the expansion, Shaw Brothers bought several parcels of land along Gambo Road and cleaned up a former junkyard.

“A lot of good people live in this area. They put up with our pit. If we can give something back, it seems only right, ” Shaw said.

Stars align

Although the gift hasn’t been transferred yet, Gorham youth have already been enjoying it on a limited basis. Gorham Recreation Director Cindy Hazelton taught canoeing classes there last week.

She had just begun teaching canoe safety when Danny Shaw walked down to the shore. She introduced him to her class of youngsters as one of the two Shaw Brothers who had made the park possible. The smiling kids swarmed around Shaw, shaking his hand and offering thanks.

Hazelton said the park is a gift to the town from the Shaw Brothers. “What a great place,” she said.

The park will be a hub for three hiking trails. It will serve as a Gorham trailhead for the state’s 4.7-mile Mountain Division Walking Trail to Standish. The Shaws also gave an easement to the Gorham Land Trust for a trail through a historic area that once had mills that manufactured gunpowder.

The brothers also provided land for part of the two-mile Presumpscot River Loop Trail, which has two pedestrian bridges that connect Gorham and Windham shores. The state paid Shaw Brothers to build both the Mountain Division trail and the Presumpscot Loop.

“It’s a celestial alignment of all the stars,” Hazelton said of the way the park came together with the hiking trails.

The multi-purpose ball field at Shaw Park was once the site of a gravel pit that ran 30 feet deep. “It was a big, bad hole in the ground,” Hazelton said. “Now, it’s a really nice multi-purpose playing field.”

The Shaw Brothers have been mowing and fertilizing the field, which could be used for baseball, softball, soccer or football. It features a grassed baseball infield and brick dugouts. The Shaw brothers are still working on completing the park. They plan to add bleachers and the backstop. They will also build a brick concession stand with restrooms. Electrical power will be installed underground, and the park will be served by a well and septic system.

“I think it will be the best field in Gorham,” Shaw said.

Built to last

In recent years, the Shaw Brothers Construction Co. widened the Turnpike to three lanes. Shaw said the company used some of the material the company removed to widen the Interstate to extend pavement on Partridge Land and pave parking areas at the park.

The Shaw brothers invested $100,000 in the road. People visiting the park from other communities will have parallel parking along the road, reserving parking in the lots for Gorham residents.

An existing shack near the shore might be repaired and possibly used for canoe rentals. Shaw has a verbal agreement to buy land for a park sign at the intersection of Partridge Lane and Sebago Lake Road “The more we do, the more exciting it gets,” Shaw said.

Other amenities to be built include basketball hoops, a playground and a pad for a motor home for a retired couple who would help manage and monitor the park. Also, Shaw plans a picnic pavilion with either granite or concrete tables. The pavilion could be by families for reunions or company outings.

The project is being constructed to last. “We hope this park will be here for 500 years,” Shaw said.

Even though the park hasn’t been handed over to the town yet, some people have already discovered it. Two Gorham High School graduates of 2001, Joe Lawrence and Brooks Hamilton, were at the park one day last week. Lawrence watched as Hamilton fished from the shore. Hamilton caught two striped bass there two days before, but the fish weren’t keepers.

“It’s nice and peaceful, calm,” Hamilton said.

They both enjoyed the spot and, like many others, have jumped into the river from the nearby railroad trestle, now one of the pedestrian bridges over the river. Lawrence is looking forward to playing on the field. “I can’t wait for ballgames here,” he said.

On the Fourth of July, Bill Manson of Standish and Gloria Holland of Auburn were walking along the Presumpscot River Loop when they came upon the park. The were amazed to see the park and learn about its origin.

“What a gift, very nice,” said Manson.

“This land is so valuable. What nice neighbors they are,” Holland said of the Shaw brothers.

People of all ages will enjoy the park, and Shaw credited Hazelton’s efforts in making it possible. “You don’t need a clipboard, a coach or a whistle. You just come,” Hazelton said. “We’re lucky.”