Brewer busy this summer with construction projects

BREWER – Summer construction projects are under way, and development in the outer Wilson Street sector of the city has given the area a complete makeover, Drew Sachs, Brewer economic development director, said Tuesday.

“That whole area around Wilson Street, and with Dirigo Drive coming in, has been given a face-lift,” he said. “The whole area has been reborn.”

People driving along Dirigo Drive will notice work being done on Brewer Federal Credit Unions’ most recent full-service branch office. On Wilson Street, they will see work crews constructing a new combined Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop.

“Construction started a while ago, but the structures have started to go up in the past week,” Sachs said.

In addition to the new construction, Sachs listed off numerous recent projects that have occurred since Wal-Mart and the Brewer Professional Center, which lies at the end of Dirigo Drive and includes Eastern Maine Healthcare, was constructed.

City officials said “new developments would be created” with the two major projects and the construction of Dirigo Drive, and that is what has happened, the economic development director said, adding “people have invested new money” in the area.

“We have new construction and development occurring on the entire length of the new roadway,” Sachs said.

The credit union project is located at the junction of Sparks Avenue and Dirigo Drive.

Dunkin’ Donuts is being built next to Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill and will have two entrances on Wilson Street and Schilling Drive.

Bruce MacDonald of Clifton, who also owns the 271 State St. Dunkin’ Donuts, has said that he wanted a second location because of how the city is expanding. The coffee-ice cream shop should be completed by the end of the year, he said.

The credit union officials picked their second Brewer location on Dirigo Drive because they wanted to better serve the customers who live in the communities of Holden, Eddington, Clifton and Orrington, President and CEO Barry Jordan said Tuesday. The other location is on North Main Street.

“We wanted to be closer to that side of town because a lot of members come from that side of town and getting to downtown Brewer is getting more difficult,” he said.

The credit union has had to expand the roadway in front of the branch office to allow room for a left turn lane. It expects to open its doors to customers in November, Jordan said.

Elsewhere in town, construction continues at the Penobscot Cove subdivision, a 16-unit subdivision along the Penobscot River near the Orrington town line, on Cove Street.