Support for waterfront park in Portland, Maine

by David Evans Shaw

On April 10^th, I participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Portland Harbor Commons park I am supporting on the waterfront of Portland, Maine. The project was initiated several years ago by an old friend and colleague, Dick Barringer, who I first met in 1974 working with Maine governor James Longley. Dick was appointed Director of the newly created Bureau of Public Lands, and went on to serve as Commissioner of Conservation and Director of the State Planning Office. In his book A Maine Manifest, published several years earlier, Dick had presented an analysis of Maine’s changing natural resource-based economy.

I was fortunate to collaborate with him in a project to reclaim more than 600,000 acres of land from private ownership, and the creation of public reserved lands such as Round Pond, the Bigelow Preserve, and Cutler Coast. I wrote about this in my recent book: Wave Making – Inspired By Impact

My service in state government provided a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the working waterfront in Portland and other Maine ports via a leadership role in creating public bond funding to help build the Portland fish pier and other similar facilities. It was another opportunity to work with Dick Barringer and I’m proud of what we accomplished.

Later, upon leaving state government, I again worked on the Portland waterfront, creating IDEXX Laboratories just a block from the new park. IDEXX now employs more than 12,000 people globally and helped catalyze a cluster of tech businesses that now account for more than 15% of Maine’s economy. One of these, where I’m a founder, is Covetrus, located just blocks from the new park.

The subject of public parks was of great interest to Dick Barringer, and this new waterfront park is evidence of that. I came to share that interest, and am grateful that our friendship and this shared interest led to collaboration on this park, and much more. Over the past several decades I have had the opportunity to contribute to protected land and ocean areas across the globe. As a presidential appointee to the US National Park Foundation I had the opportunity to help shape the US National Park Service Centennial in 2016, including the establishment of new parks as well as the expansion of science programs to improve stewardship some of America’s existing system of more than 400 parks such as Acadia National Park in Maine. These parks attract more than 300 million visits annually.

As a Patron of Nature at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, I have contributed to the expansion of parks and protected areas around the globe, including the historic high seas treaty ratified by the United Nations in September 2025.

Dick Barringer and I shared a belief that parks offer outstanding benefits for public and planetary health. Urban parks, such as Portland Harbor Commons, can enhance wellness and community spirit.

Just one example of this is the New York Restoration Project launched by my friend, actress Bette Midler, 30 years ago. It’s been very fulfilling for me to support NYRP and to see it grow as an organization that stewards more than 80 acres of parkland, including over 50 community gardens, and the planting of thousands of trees annually.

Portland Harbor Commons is expected to open to visitors this Fall, and we’ll have another opportunity to celebrate Dick Barringer who sadly passed away late last year . I am donating 3 large cast bronze sculptures in his honor. As founder of the Portland Museum of Art’s sculpture park, I have come to appreciate the role of public art in enhance the park visitor experience.