MARS HILL, Maine — Entrepreneurs are injecting new life in downtown Mars Hill, with two food businesses entering their second year and a full-service gas station and convenience store under construction.
The Inside Scoops, a seasonal ice cream and snack stand, and Timberwolves, a year-round restaurant, both opened last summer and joined Al’s and Rosella’s on Main Street, and the Rusty Crab, a seasonal seafood stand.
Later this year, the Foster’s On The Run gas station, currently located at the junction of Route 1 and Route 1A, will move to a new location a few hundred feet south on Main Street with an expanded On The Run full service convenience store.
“Come September, R.H Foster is bringing in their Freshies line, similar to Presque Isle,” said Mars Hill town manager David Cyr. “They’re hoping to be up and running in the September time-frame.”
On the recent June Election Day, crews were pouring the foundation for the new gas station and store.
The new business developments are a good sign for the small town of Mars Hill, which counts a population of more than 1,400 people and has seen its downtown properties languishing for years.
Michael Stiggle, owner of Timberwolves, converted the vacant former J.J. Newberry building into a restaurant and brewpub over the course of a year, and said business has ebbed and flowed but steadily grown.
“People in Mars Hill should be able to eat in Mars Hill, have an adult beverage and have a place to relax and listen to music,” he said. The restaurant hosts regular live performances on the weekends with an eclectic mix of musicians spanning blues, country, folk, rock and other styles.
Stiggle said he hopes to see Mars Hill grow as a community and build on assets such as the Bigrock Mountain ski hill, the Hansen Memorial Library and the local school district.
“We need to recruit people to move here and open up businesses,” Stiggle said.
Cyr said the Town Council of Mars Hill has downtown development on its list of considerations in the future, as the town still has to decide how to use proceeds from a tax increment financing project approved in 2016 for a new potato storage facility built by County Super Spuds. The project is estimated to generate $50,000 for the town over 10 years, which could be used for community development projects such as facade improvements or revolving loan funds.
“The council hasn’t discussed how to use those funds, “ Cyr said.
The councilors have been discussing a number of other concerns, including examining the feasibility of replacing the roofs on the town’s community center and town office. The town is planning to replace the lighting systems at the town office and fire station with rebates from Efficiency Maine, Cyr said.
The town also is in the midst of having an audit of its street lights completed in order to proceed with new LED street light installations as part of an LED street light project with a consortium of Aroostook County municipalities.
“Hopefully, it’ll be a busy summer to move different things forward,” Cyr said.
