New suitor expresses interest in Bass Park

The city’s latest go-round over Bass Park started recently when city councilors reviewed the administration’s request for proposals.

The complex on Bangor’s lower Main Street has been in the public eye for most of the year as the city’s varied political factions vied for control of its destiny.

The upshot of the wrangling was that the council voted to toss aside all that had happened. Councilors decided to start the process over and ask for proposals from interested parties.

Since the council’s decision a month ago to start over, a local developer and newcomer to the political landscape of Bass Park has expressed interest in submitting a proposal. “I am in the process of assembling a group with a national reputation in auditorium, civic center, and recreational management and development,” Robert E. Baldacci Jr., said in a recent letter to Barrett.

Additionally, Barrett said that he has talked with representatives of United Leisure Services, a consortium of two national companies, that submitted a proposal last time around.

Larry K. Mahaney, a local businessman who spearheaded Bass Park Associates, has also said that he would be interested in submitting another proposal. The council voted 5-4 to enter negotiations with BPA, but the talks foundered in a groundswell of public opposition.

The council first decided to lease Bass Park to a private operator more than a year ago. It subsequently voted for BPA against the advice of the city staff, saw petitioners gather enough signatures to force the matter, placed its own question on the June ballot, placed the petitioners’ question on the Noveember ballot, watched voters approve a question opposed by a majority of the council and finally decided to start again.

At a meeting Tuesday, members of the council’s Finance Committee reviewed a draft of the document that the city will send out to request proposals from groups interested in running Bass Park. City Manager Edward A. Barrett wrote the draft.

“What I’ve tried to do with the draft proposal is first identify our objectives and to clearly set out the criteria to use in choosing who would get it,” Barrett said.