Monolite endeavor advances in Bath Purchase of factory key to developing Millinocket plan

The city of Bath has bought a building for a Maine Monolite LLC factory as part of a first step toward building a larger facility employing about 250 workers late this fall in Millinocket.

Bath city officials closed the $300,000 deal on Thursday to buy 2 Town Landing in Bath. They are due to meet Wednesday with Maine Monolite LLC owner Anthony Burich and engineers to review interior site plans prior to workers moving into the building, Bath City Manager John Bubier said Monday.

“We had hoped to have it [the purchase] done several months ago, but it worked out as quickly as it could,” Al Smith, Bath’s community development director, said. “They are moving along – slowly – but they are moving along.”

Maine Monolite LLC workers could move into the building within a few weeks. City officials had to brief the Maine Historic Preservation Commission about the historic building’s intended use before the deal could close, Smith said.

Maine Monolite had hoped to move into the building early this month. The Bath facility is a key component to the Millinocket plans. Using a patented, highly durable composite known as Monolite, the Bath facility will create the raw materials for engines and multiuse vehicles that eventually will be built in Millinocket.

Lightweight and malleable, Monolite has bullet-resistance capabilities, can withstand temperatures of up to 2,850 degrees Fahrenheit and is broken down by ultraviolet rays at a much slower rate than plastic. Made of Monolite and other composites, the swing rotary engine being developed by Maine Monolite LLC measures about 1 foot long, weighs 40 pounds, can generate up to 500 horsepower and can run on almost anything that burns.

“What they need to do is design their space, and they have got about $100,000 available to them on a state grant and a federal grant they are trying to nail down as well,” Bubier said.

Maine Monolite LLC will complete composite testing at the Bath facility and eventually, under the grant deal, will buy the facility. Bath officials hope to complete their site review of the project within three or four months.

Maine Monolite LLC has raised $3.8 million to $4.6 million in development funds, including a $1 million federal grant and a $400,000 state Community Development Block Grant, Burich has said.

The federal grant, which was engineered by U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, was crucial to guaranteeing the Millinocket phase of the project, Burich has said.