CLINTON $ A new face for the downtown section of the riverbank should take shape by the end of June, Town Manager James Rhodes said Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, the Board of Selectmen opened seven engineering and architectural services bids for the mill site-improvement project.

The Parks and Recreation Committee will study the bids, and make a recommendation to the board, Rhodes said. Selectmen will award the bid either at their Sept. 23 or Oct. 14 meeting, he said.

"Once it's done, it's going to become essentially the town common," Rhodes said. "It will become the gathering place for activities."

Last spring, the town won a $150,000 community development block grant to improve the highly-visible site along Main Street, and next to the Sebasticook River. The former Ski-Land mill complex was torn down in 1996.