Vacant building must go, says board

    HOULTON — The Houlton International Building is no longer wanted by the Shiretown Development Corporation. The goal now is to find a way to unload the property to someone else.
    The discussion relating to the building has been ongoing for the past month. SDC board members have argued that in order to calculate the value of the structure, they need to know the cost of asbestos abatement would be. During Monday night’s SDC meeting, Town Manager Doug Hazlett brought those numbers back to the board.
Pioneer Times Photo/Sarah Berthiaume
DEMOLITION IN PROGRESS — Ragged edges of the Kendall Street storefront next to Cole’s Shoe Store wait to be pushed over. Demolition on the decrepit building started Monday morning; it has been purchased by Gardiner Savings Bank, which owns Houlton Savings (formerly First Citizens Bank).
PIN THE EARLY YEARS — This snapshot came from the collection of the late Bill Cumming; it shows the Kendall Street storefront as it appeared around 1898. After L.E. Smith’s store, it is believed the building was home to Monroe’s Drug Store and then a restaurant.
    “We did hear back from County Abatement,” said Hazlett. “They are a specialist in the removal of asbestos. As a matter of fact they did this building (town office) and the police building and they’ll be doing the public works building for the furnaces as well. They came back with a price of $50,000 if you’re going to demolish the building and $75,000 if you’re going to refurbish it. The standard of cleaning the building if someone is going to occupy is a little bit higher.”
    Hazlett said the issue they are faced with now is how to absorb the cost.
    Board members expressed concerns with the SDC’s current fund balance, which stands at $33,547. Hazlett said the additional cost will be incurred within the price of sale of the land and/or building.
    SDC Chair Paul Romanelli recognized that something had to be done as soon as possible.
    “Our funds are rapidly decreasing,” he said. “The bottom line is we don’t have a lot of options. It’s important that we make a decision in the next couple of months.”
    SDC Director Nancy Ketch agreed that the options were few and far. She said the board needed to come to some kind of arrangement before they were forced to borrow more money from the town.
    “We have three options to choose from,” said Ketch. “Obviously, we don’t want to keep it so that option is out.”
    The other two options involve a controlled sale of the property, which allows the board to maintain a limited amount of control in the economic development of the property, or simply, follow Board Director Stan Ginish’s suggestion to just sell it to whoever wants it. Ginish said there has been one individual currently waiting on the sidelines to make an offer and present his business plan for the property. Peter Fitzpatrick has attended the past three SDC meetings in an  effort to gain support from the board. Fitzpatrick has been asked to present his plans to the town manager, however, he said wants to present his ideas to the board himself.
Photo courtesy of Cole’s Shoe Store
BUSINESS HOME — The now-demolished building on Kendall Street was home to Cole’s Shoe Store for decades. Jim Cole says Cole’s Shoe Store moved into that building in 1944 and moved out in 1969 when they moved to their current location, just a little further down the street. Before that barbershop next door became Elliott’s in the 1950s, Jim said he remembers the shop being owned by Arthur Kitchen.
    Ginish has been pushing for the sale, telling fellow directors that retaining ownership of the building is a waste of taxpayer’s money. Ginish said the board needs to take the current land assessment and use that as a value for the property and get rid of it.
    “We haven’t done a good job at all with this building,” said Ginish. “No wonder nobody wants it. It’s atrocious. Nobody wants this building the way it is.”
    The hour-long discussion raised environmental concerns other than the asbestos, which made other board directors warm up to the idea of just selling the building as is to the next available buyer.
    “If we have a potential buyer, we need to sell it or demolish it,” commented Board Director Paul Cleary.
    The SDC board agreed to allow Fitzpatrick to make a presentation at their next meeting on Monday, Nov. 12.
Pioneer Times Photo/Sarah Berthiaume
PUSH OVER — The roof of the old Kendall Street storefront slides off to one side Monday morning. The building, purchased by Gardiner Savings Bank, is being demolished to make way for the bank’s future development plans.