Electric co-op site getting face-lift

CALAIS – No one seems to know its age, but Eastern Maine Electric Co-op’s building on Union Street is getting a much needed face-lift.

The $100,000 project, expected to be completed in about six weeks, was approved by the city’s planners last year.

Not even city officials could verify when the building was constructed. A search of the tax records did not reveal its history.

At one time, the building was home to a car dealership. “They had cars on the first floor,” EMEC General Manager Jimmy Dean said Tuesday. “It’s framed up well. It has a thick concrete floor. It used to be the showroom.”

Dean said he also believed there may have been a service station there at one time. “It may have been tied in with the car dealership,” he added.

After that, Doc Hazen Mitchell had his offices there. He later moved to a Main Street location. Eastern Maine moved into a part of the building in the 1950s.

In 1969, the power company expanded to the rest of the building. “I came here in January 1970 and Doc Mitchell had moved out [before that],” Dean said.

Renovations include a new facade that will complement the nearby Downeast Heritage Museum. The changes dovetail with renovations to the former city railroad station that for years was home to the Calais Press and has become a $6.6 million museum and cultural center.

Gone is the gray clapboard that at one time adorned the front of the electric company’s building and in its place a more decorative siding. The bricks have been pressure washed, repaired and repainted with earth tones. Workers are in the process of building a new covered entrance.

The building also had problems with flooding. “We had a bit of a water problem so we are spending a lot of time taking care of that, “Dean said, “sealing it with plastic and improving the drainage around the building. Once we get all of that done, then we will be putting in new carpet on the first floor.”

Asked if replacing the windows would help with energy costs, Dean said, “I certainly hope so, but I don’t think that will be significant.”

Last year, EMEC officials replaced a portion of the roof, and next spring the back of the building will be examined, Dean said.

The city has been working diligently over the past few years to improve the city’s downtown look.

A park with a fountain now anchors the center of the city’s downtown area. A grand stairway near the park leads to the museum.

City Manager Linda Pagels said Tuesday she was pleased with the continuing evidence of private investment in the downtown area.

“EMEC is doing a fine job in a crucial location. They are near the waterfront park and heritage museum, and the improvements have been discussed for quite a while and it’s really nice to see them being done,” she said.