Mayo Island looking south toward Manchester from the 14th Street bridge (Photo by Scott Bass)
In late June, the Capital Region Land Conservancy purchased the remaining .25-acre parcel of privately owned property on Mayo Island, paving the way for the city to convert the 16-acre island into a “vibrant public park and riverfront destination,” Mayor Danny Avula said in a statement.
Long considered the “green jewel” of the city’s riverfront, Mayo Island sits between downtown and Manchester, bisected by the 14th Street bridge. The island is currently consumed by largely unused parking lots and natural habitat.
For years, the previous owners attempted to sell the island to commercial developers, but it sits directly in a flood zone and lacks any connection to the city’s sewer system.
Meanwhile, the 1994 completion of the floodwall just east of the bridge, on both sides of the James River, makes the island even more prone to flooding. As a result, the city purchased most of the island in 2024 for $15 million.
“While small, this last parcel is important to realizing the full potential of Mayo Island Park by closing a significant hole in the center of the park and creating future opportunities for development of the space,” said Parker Agelasto, executive director of the CRLC, in a statement. It also paves the way for the bridge’s much-needed replacement.
There’s an old service station, a bus shelter and buildings connected to what used to be Overnite Transportation Co. The island also once housed a sawmill and, most famously, a baseball diamond known as Mayo Field.
