BUCKSPORT — In a town where the wish list of development projects seems nearly endless, a committee has identified creating a 3,500-square-foot banquet facility on the waterfront as another desirable endeavor.
Bucksport Economic Development Director Mike Ruel said recently that town planners had identified a banquet facility and cultural auditorium as two unfilled niche opportunities that could stimulate the downtown economy.
Having already met for several weeks, the Bucksport banquet facility study committee made significant progress Wednesday night in deciding on the optimum size for such a facility, as well as reviewing five possible models for the project.
The committee includes business owners, residents, an economic development specialist and town officials, along with representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Champion International’s Bucksport mill. One panelist is a local caterer.
“I don’t see us as designing this,” said Chairman Keith Cunningham. He said the committee should decide the size and type of facility it wants, research sites, then have a design professional present a plan.
After studying dimensions of the local senior citizens center along with other banquet facilities as a basis for comparison, Town Manager Roger Raymond concluded that about 3,500 square feet of space would be needed to have enough room for kitchen and lobby space, storage, bathrooms, a dance floor and comfortable seating for 150 people.
The committee agreed on that number as the maximum that generally would attend the average event, and preferred that scenario over a smaller one Raymond proposed to serve fewer people.
In presenting five complex options for types of banquet facilities, Raymond said creating one as part of a community center by far would be the easiest to sell to residents, who say a local meeting place is badly needed.
But committee members agreed that such centers typically focus on recreational activities, and would not be compatible with a quality banquet establishment. Panelist Richard Rosen said there’s no reason the town should not consider building a center as a separate project.
Besides the community center proposal, the options include constructing a new building that could contain business incubator space, a new or renovated building with private rental space, or simply having an outside developer own and operate the facility. A final option entails siting a facility within a town office expansion.
The committee expects to make its major conclusions on which type of facility to recommend and how it should be financed at the panel’s next meeting, set for 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at the town office.
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