Rolling on the river

The Penobscot River and Brewer have a long, glorious history. The large crowd that turned out for the public hearing Tuesday on a plan to revive the slumbering waterfront, and its positive response to that plan, suggest the river and the city have a bright future as well.

Just as encouraging as the level of public interest is the nature of the nascent plan. The ultimate goal — shops, restaurants, parks, trails and perhaps a marina — is realistic, practical and people-friendly. The starting point – clearing up health and safety hazards, renovating or razing dilapidated buildings and piers, relocating the public works garage and other wasteful uses of this potentially valuable space — isn’t glamorous, but it is necessary.

Brewer is not just now waking up to the potential of the Penobscot. The 1996 Comprehensive Plan identified the river as one of the city’s major underutilized resources. Sewer system upgrades have greatly improved water quality and made it suitable for recreation. Green areas have sprouted up and increased public access to the waterfront. A few retail businesses have opened. The snag is that these people places are spotty, isolated and hemmed in by blight.

Now is the time to pull them together and clear the clutter. No one should expect the road ahead to be without bumps. As general concepts become specifics, there will be disagreements and disruptions. By remaining focussed upon small-scale, doable steps, the Brewer plan can, however, avoid disintegration.

Brewer may be new to the game, but it already has grasped a crucial concept, endorsed by the leading experts in urban redevelopment: Downtown revivals that are based on local folks having more fun and better opportunities to grow their own businesses almost always succeed; those that depend upon one huge megaproject — a stadium or a luxury hotel, for instance — that rely on visitors, that sit empty when the visitors leave, that provide mostly low-wage jobs for the locals, frequently disappoint.

Bangor, across the river, is ahead of Brewer in its waterfront development, having already done a lot of planning, studying and cleaning up. Bangor also is facing the important decision of whether its waterfront revival will be led by a 250-room hotel project, as suggested by consultants, or by smaller-scale recreation and entertainment ventures, as many Bangorites prefer. The two city councils already have had joint meetings on the waterfront they share. As the pace picks up, and as the stakes grow higher, this cooperative approach becomes increasingly important.

In fact, since several other Penobscot cities are taking a fresh look at their waterfronts, this would be a good time for an organized, regional approach to development. Old Town, for example, has a very exciting plan afoot that includes an outdoor outfitters mall. As the Penobscot comes to life again, it’s important that all the communities, and entrepreneurs, along its shores know what’s around the bend.