Panel OKs Waterworks redevelopment

BANGOR – Members of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission said Thursday that they would have liked more time to consider redevelopment plans for the aging Waterworks complex. They would have preferred that the distinctive smokestack and the filter house, both targeted for demolition, be preserved. They also would have liked to see the deteriorating roof be redone in its original slate – as opposed to asphalt.

In the end, however, the commission members agreed to issue the Shaw House Inc. the “certificate of appropriateness” it needs to convert the waterworks to low-income housing units, largely because of the project’s time crunch and budget limitations. As conditions, the Shaw House and its architectural consultant, WBRC of Bangor, must return with color samples for replacement windows and a sample of the bent-metal treatment proposed for the eaves.

Good news for the commission was that the Deane pump, an enormous cast-iron structure in the main building, will be restored and showcased in a central common area. An opening will be left between levels so that visitors will be able to view it from the first and second floors, WBRC architect and project manager Matthew Carter said during a presentation before the five-member panel.

After decades of neglect, plans are in motion for renovating the historic but neglected Bangor waterworks complex on State Street.

Shaw House Inc., a nonprofit subsidiary of the city’s shelter for homeless teens, is in the process of acquiring the property. The plan is to convert it to 35 efficiency units for very low-income residents.

According to Dan Wellington, the city’s code enforcement director, the target date for starting construction is April 15 and many other hurdles need to be overcome before then.

These include: the transfer of the property from the city to the developer; the negotiation of right-of-way issues with nearby Eastern Maine Medical Center and the railroad; and cleanup work including the removal of asbestos, an underground fuel tank and pigeon droppings, classified “special waste” by environmental officials.

The project’s funding package comprises $3.6 million in low-income housing tax credits, a $600,000 Maine State Housing Authority grant, $350,000 from Shaw House Inc., a $313,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank and up to $1 million from the city. The bulk of the city’s share, or $650,000, would come from Community Development Block Grant funds the city has on hand.