East Main Street projects underway
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Changes are underway to improve the look of downtown Dover-Foxcroft. The Masonic Temple now has new signage, a window broken by a moose will be replaced after a year and a half and the former Dead River Building will be removed to help alleviate traffic issues.
During a Dec. 14 selectmen’s meeting held over Zoom, Town Manager Jack Clukey was asked in public comment about the status of the former Athens Pizzeria building by the intersection of East Main and South streets. In June 2019 a wayward moose was photographed coming out through a broken window during the early morning hours by Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Officer Matthew Poole after the animal had crashed through the glass to enter the building.
Poole’s image and the story quickly drew national attention, but in 18 months since the window space has remained covered with large plywood.
NEW SIGNAGE — The Masonic Temple on East Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft has a new sign thanks to the efforts of the Downtowners committee.
“The Downtowners committee has been active over the last few months and done some fundraising to beautify downtown buildings,” Clukey said. He said group members have an arrangement with the owner of the structure that housed the pizzeria to make some improvements when a new window is installed later in the week.
“It’s just been kind of a question of ownership and who’s in position to authorize activities there,” Clukey said about the delay in fixing the window.
“We are going ahead with a window for the Athens Pizzeria building, it is coming in on Wednesday afternoon,” Dani Dow of the Downtowners said. “(Fellow committee member Bobbie L. Nickerson) and I are going in and cleaning while they are putting in the window.”
“I think there will be a lot happening in a little amount of time with that building,” Clukey said. He said next door the Masonic Temple has a new sign with gray letters up thanks to the Downtowners.
“The Downtowners did a lot of work and really improved the look of that sign,” the town manager said.
WINDOW WORK — A window, broken by a wayward moose in June 2019, at the former Athens Pizzeria in downtown Dover-Foxcroft is scheduled to be replaced after being boarded up for nearly a year and a half.
Across East Main Street, Clukey said demolition has begun at the former Dead River Building. Plans had a crew from the Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston doing some of this work, but due to COVID-19 inmates are unable to leave the premises to work in the community as they had before the pandemic.
Clukey said the town public works crew will be in the building as the schedule permits over the winter.
Earlier in the year the Maine Department of Transportation acquired the former Dead River building and accompanying parcel at the intersection of Route 15 and Route 7 and signed a memorandum of agreement with the town. The acquisition will help widen the intersection to enable large vehicles to pass through. The property will be more than is needed for a lane, so some of the parcel could be used by the town such as green space.
The memorandum calls for Dover-Foxcroft to collaborate on the project by removing the structure and re-grading the site. MDOT has agreed to provide the town with a license to use any part of the property not required for the future highway improvement project to alleviate some of the traffic issues downtown.
In his report Clukey said, “Last month we submitted a couple of grant applications to the DEP’s program for large culvert replacement.”
“We have many, many crossings and culverts in town so we put in the applications,” he said. The town manager said the applications are seeking funds to replace the structures on Autumn Avenue and Grove Street.
Clukey also said bid specs are being put together for 2021 paving.
“Last year we bid it much earlier than in the past,” he said, explaining the town received good pricing and early completion by getting the bids back in March. Clukey said the hope is to get the bids out next month.