RUMFORD — Efforts are underway by Economic Development Committee member Jim Rinaldo to attract tourists and attention to the Androscoggin River via the town boat launch site.

Located off Route 2 just beyond McDonald’s, the site has new picnic tables and trash barrels. It’s also being more regularly maintained and mowed, Rinaldo said Tuesday evening.

“We’re trying to get it so people will stop,” he said. “I’d like to try and make it a tourist attraction, basically.”

Earlier this year, Franklin Savings Bank and Bangor Savings Bank in Rumford, and the Oxford Federal Credit Union in Mexico each donated $160 for the new spruce picnic tables, which were installed in late May or early June, he said.

Plaques also were made for each table listing the donor.

Rinaldo said he also sought help from Rumford Town Manager Carlo Puiia to get a universal picnic-area sign placed along the road to entice tourists.

Additionally, knowing that Rumford owns 1,800 feet along the river toward town, Rinaldo would like to have that made into a footpath much like Ogunquit did with its Marginal Way.

Marginal Way is one of New England’s only paved, public footpaths along the ocean.

“What I want to do is do something similar to that along the Androscoggin River. So if somebody stops to have a picnic, they can walk down to some turnouts to look at the river and just enjoy it,” he said.

There is also a nice grassy path from the boat launch site to McDonald’s so that people can get lunch there and return to the picnic tables.

Rinaldo said he’s seen more people using the site for picnics and launching boats, and hopes usage continues to grow.

Committee Chairman Phil Blampied has also made a nearly 2½-minute video set to tranquil music to help attract tourists.

Entitled “Sunrise on the Androscoggin,” the footage shows fog rising above the water and the beauty of the river from the boat launch vantage point.

It can be viewed on Rumford’s website at www.rumfordmaine.net.

“It’s an effort to further encourage people to appreciate, visit and use the boat launch,” Blampied said.

According to the website, the boat launch is part of a larger network of boat-launching sites known as the Androscoggin River Trail.

The trail allows non-motorized watercraft, such as kayaks and canoes, to traverse more than 20 miles of the river’s most scenic sections.

Last September, at Rinaldo’s behest, selectmen unanimously approved an Androscoggin River Watershed Council project to place a kiosk at the boat launch.

A quick OK was sought to get signage and maps up for the public and Rumford’s first canoe run, which ends at the boat launch site. The second annual canoe run will continue next month.

Funding for the kiosk project was provided by the Brookfield Renewable Energies power station at Pennacook Falls.

The Mahoosuc Land Trust also assisted with the project.

Rinaldo told selectmen that the the watershed council has been placing information kiosks along the river for 16 years while promoting its use.

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