150-year-old building’s fate in question

GUILFORD – The future of a neglected building, the sole survivor of a historic block of brick buildings that once graced the Water Street area, has pitted historical preservationists against those who seek economic revival.

The J.K.Edes building, constructed in 1856 as a gift from Key Bank, stands starkly alone with missing bricks here and there. Its presence is seen as an obstacle in bringing new business to the community by some and a precious link to the past by others.

Town officials had planned to demolish the building and use the land as a catalyst for downtown retail development after having obtained some of the surrounding property, but residents agreed at the annual March town meeting to do a little research first.

Town officials were told to conduct a study to determine what options were available for either saving the building or demolishing it and to share that information at a special town meeting.

“It’s a thorn in the side here because of a small vocal minority with no concept of costs, rules and regulations,” Guilford Town Manager Tom Goulette said Thursday. “You just can’t go up there and slap some tar paper on the roof and call it a finished product.”

There are federal regulations, problems with access to the second story, heat and a multitude of other issues that must be addressed if the building were to be preserved, including its decrepit condition inside and out, he said. WBRC Architects of Bangor pegged the restoration costs at $1.1 million.

Members of Guilford’s historical society want the town to donate the building to the society for renovation.

“It’s important to me because it’s historically the last one left that really stands out in the town and I feel it could be made into something extra nice,” Sieferd Schultz, society treasurer, said Thursday.

He said possibilities for use of the building are endless. It could be used, for example, as retail space, converted into a bowling alley like it once was or serve as an industrial museum in recognition of the role industry has played in the town and in Piscataquis County.

While the town’s study continues, society members are hoping to raise $100,000 in an effort to sway voters when the special town meeting is held later this year.

Roxanne Quimby, who operated Burt’s Bees from the building, has offered a matching $50,000 grant to the society.

“I made this offer in an attempt to help preserve a historical building in Guilford. Since many of the older buildings in town are now gone, I think it would be a great idea to preserve one of the remaining buildings,” Quimby wrote in an e-mail to the Bangor Daily News.

She made the offer in the form of a matching grant to ensure there was widespread support for the project and “not simply my desire,” she wrote.

Town officials hope to get a community development planning grant to determine if there is any interest in developing the lot without the presence of the building. Development would generate traffic to that side of town, increase the tax rolls, stimulate economic growth while providing services that are needed in the community, Goulette said.

Interface Fabrics (Guilford of Maine) previously had offered to donate a lot next to the Edes building to incorporate in the town’s development plan. The company, which took no position on the future of the structure, wants to stimulate the economy and create jobs, according to Mary Alyce Higgins, senior vice president of human resources.

If those two outcomes occurred, then the company would be willing to donate the land, she said.

The town manager also hopes that would happen.

If the society took over the building, the town likely would be asked to contribute more each year for the society’s operation, Goulette said. A year ago, the town donated $3,000 to help the society’s operation, and last March the yearly donation was reduced to $1,000 because the society received some rental income, he said.

It isn’t that historical value is lost to town officials, Goulette said. He and the town’s economic development committee recognize the importance of the past but just see no feasibility in saving this building because of its condition and its location, he said.

His family once operated a store in the building, and Goulette recalled it was his job to separate the fresh eggs which came 30 dozen in box. He’ll always have that memory whether or not the building is there, he said.