March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bangor hails Main Street Shaw’s plan

BANGOR — It’s not your traditional Welcome Wagon, but Bangor officials have offered tax incentives and a hand in property-purchasing negotiations to give a warm welcome to a second Shaw’s Supermarket in the city.

On Thursday, city and Shaw’s representatives gathered in City Council chambers to unveil a more than $8 million project to build a new 53,000-square-foot supermarket on land along Main Street.

Given the go-ahead by the city, construction on the supermarket will begin next spring, probably in May, and be completed about 10 months later.

The new Shaw’s store already has some initial support from the city, although it still requires planning board and City Council approval. Traffic and environmental studies need to be done, and land needs to be purchased.

But on Thursday, city officials saw past the potential pitfalls and toward the economic benefits from a store on property that long has been designated a prime economic development region while remaining a little-used plot.

City Mayor Charlie Sullivan praised the project as an economic boon to the city and a platform from which to launch other development projects in the area.

“The project will greatly enhance the appearance of Main Street, which is an important gateway to our community, especially the downtown and waterfront areas,” Sullivan told reporters Thursday.

Ken Gibb, economic development director for the city, said later that the Shaw’s supermarket could prompt future growth in the area, particularly on the railroad land between the Penobscot River and Main Street.

To help the project, Sullivan and Gibb said the council will be asked to approve a tax incentive that gives a percentage of future taxes from the store to the developer to help defer costs. City Manager Ed Barrett said that no figure has been established yet for what the city will give the project up front.

Not everyone is going along with the project. Owners of five of the 14 properties that Shaw’s wants to buy have yet to reach an agreement with the company or the project’s developer, The Boulos Co. of Portland.

Part of the 6 acres for the project is a city-owned parking lot that once held a coal processing plant. The rest is privately owned and includes some homes along Patten Street and mixed-used buildings on Main Street from K’s Jewelry Exchange near Gold Star Cleaners all the way down to, and including, the Oriental Market, formerly Brownie’s Market.

All would be demolished to make room for the store and its estimated 240-spot parking lot. Under preliminary plans, the part of Patten Street between Hellier and Main streets would be eliminated and become part of the parking lot.

Among those properties that have not settled with Shaw’s is Perry’s Restaurant on the corner of Patten and Main streets. A representative of the restaurant could not be reached for comment.

Barrett said that the city may become involved in negotiations with property owners who have yet to sell to Shaw’s. Ultimately, since the area is in a redevelopment zone, the city could take the land by eminent domain, although Barrett said the city hopes to reach a settlement long before such a move is required.

Richard Rhine, who lives in the nearby Bangor House, a subsidized housing facility for the elderly and handicapped, said late Thursday afternoon that the new store would be a welcome sight.

In a move that drew anger and criticism more than a year ago, Shop ‘n Save closed its store at Third and Union streets and moved into a larger facility at the Airport Mall.

While Shop ‘n Save operates shuttle buses during the week for customers on the west side of the city, Rhine thinks that the new Shaw’s store will offer some convenience lost when the Shop ‘n Save moved out.

“I just feel it’s a necessity and I’m glad they decided to do it,” said Rhine, who not only shops for himself but also buys for a small convenience store inside the Bangor House.

The Main Street Shaw’s store will be the company’s second store in Bangor and the 18th in Maine. Shaw’s also operates one on Springer Drive.

Shaw’s spokesman Bernie Rogan said the supermarket chain, which had its start in Portland and now extends throughout New England, had been looking for a while to open a second store in Bangor.

Shaw’s operates 87 stores in New England and had a total sales of nearly $2 billion in fiscal year 1994.


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like