Bangor Masons debate land swap

BANGOR – More than five months after losing its downtown headquarters to a disastrous fire, the Bangor Masonic Temple Association is trying to negotiate a possible land swap with the city, a move that would trade the Main Street lot for a vacant space on Union Street.

The Masons have targeted the old army reserve center next to Eastern Maine Healthcare Mall on Union Street as their ideal location, according to the association’s president, John Tripp. The site is the only location they are considering.

While nothing has been decided, Tripp said the Masons are trying to work out a deal with the city to make the trade happen.

“It would be a trade, but not a 100 percent trade,” Tripp said, because the costs for the two sites are not comparable.

The old Masonic Hall was five stories tall and housed three businesses, including River City Gallery, Yankee Shoe Repair and the Scottish Rite Masonic Children’s Learning Center. It also provided a meeting place for the city’s Masonic lodges and related organizations.

A fire consumed the building on Jan. 15, rendering the Masons and the other organizations homeless. No cause was ever determined.

Now the Masons hold their meetings in neighboring lodges in Old Town, Hampden and Orrington, and no one knows when plans for a new permanent location will be completed, Tripp said.

The new site would house just the children’s center and provide a meeting place for the Masons. The children’s center is now housed on Harlow Street across from Bangor City Hall. The program has offered free tutoring for children with dyslexia for the past eight years and serves about 50 pupils and students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The Union Street location is just the right size needed to give the Masons and the children’s center a new home, Tripp said.

“The building that is on the property right now is pretty suitable,” Tripp said. It would not be necessary to add to the site or do any rebuilding, he added.

Unlike the old building, the new headquarters will house no other organizations.

Although the Masons could rebuild on Main Street, they would prefer a location with more space, Tripp said.

“We don’t have any desire to return there due to the parking,” the association’s president said. “There’s no parking at all.”

Private parking is part of what encourages businesses in Bangor to build on land outside the center of the city rather than downtown, according to Code Enforcement Officer Dan Wellington. It is also cheaper to build out across a wide space rather than to add more floors to a building.

Meanwhile, no firm plans have been made for the now-vacant Main Street lot. “The lot was irregularly shaped and twisted,” Wellington said. “I would not be surprised to see that land sit vacant for awhile.”

Businesses such as Ames, Epstein Commercial Real Estate and Epi’s Restaurant have expressed interest in the site, according to Tripp, and city officials speculate that other nearby businesses could have use for the site. No bids have been made on the land, however.

Other options for the land will be considered, Wellington said, including turning the area into a park or parking area.

Leaving the lot empty like it is now, the city official said, is an unattractive idea.

“It’s almost like having a missing tooth right now,” he said about the empty spot in Bangor’s skyline. “You want your Main Street to be full of buildings.”