Why protect Indian Point in Ellsworth from development? Perhaps you have been asking yourself this question when considering the Frenchman Bay Conservancy’s effort to purchase 13 acres on Indian Point to create a public park in downtown Ellsworth.

The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, the governance Board of Woodlawn Museum, enthusiastically supports this project. It will protect an important cultural and natural asset, and positively influence the long-term economic growth and cultural well-being of the Ellsworth community.

Ellsworth is at a crossroads. We can continue to be a junction that takes people from one place to another or we can become a destination. By making investments in our rich cultural and natural beauty, Ellsworth can become a city that not only has outstanding attractions for the many visitors to our region but also a wonderful place in which to live and work. If we fail to preserve the tranquil beauty of the Union River and its banks, our important architectural and cultural history and our remaining green spaces, we risk losing them forever.

The Indian Point project will benefit Ellsworth both culturally and economically. A public park on Indian Point, along with our other cultural and natural assets, will help attract travelers to the downtown area and provide an attraction to encourage people to make this their home. The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations has been working to preserve open spaces and our history for more than 100 years. In 1916, the trustees donated the land that eventually became Acadia National Park. Today, the trustees preserve Woodlawn Museum, Maine’s premier historic estate. The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations supports and applauds the efforts of the Frenchman Bay Conservancy to preserve Indian Point.

Stephen Shea Board of directors and

Joshua Torrance Executive director

Woodlawn Museum Ellsworth