March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Plans outpace funds for St. Croix Island> No money for historic site in Interior budget

CALAIS — Local leaders are afraid visitors to St. Croix Island’s 400th anniversary celebration in 2004 may see a sign that says, “Sorry, closed for construction.”

Even as the National Park Service this week released its plan to develop the island as an international tourist attraction, Maine’s congressional delegation was trying to pry loose money to pay just for planning the project.

Yet area residents, who for years have worked on turning the forgotten island into a tourist attraction, are loath to see any sign except one that says, “Welcome to St. Croix Island’s 400th Anniversary Celebration.”

The island marks the first European settlement in New England and was home, at least for a time in 1604, to French explorers Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons and Samuel de Champlain.

The National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over St. Croix Island, had requested $803,000 for planning and construction of a small parking area, ranger station and interpretive trail on the mainland across from the island.

But that sum was not funded in the Department of the Interior budget.

If funding does not get back on track, planning for the project might not begin until 2003, with construction delayed until 2004. That’s the year residents want to hold a huge celebration that will include visiting dignitaries from France. They would also like to invite the U.S. president.

To try to avoid further delay, Maine’s congressional delegation has asked for $90,000 in seed money for planning of the trail across from the island and a heritage center in downtown Calais.

The island in the St. Croix River near the Red Beach area of Calais is about 10 minutes from downtown. In 1604, the French established one of the earliest colonies in the New World on St. Croix — three years before the British landed at Jamestown in what is now Virginia and 16 years before the Pilgrims set foot at Plymouth.

The island is a favorite spot for local boaters, who sail to the south end and step ashore on the same sandy beach where de Mons and Champlain first set foot.

In the past two years, many meetings have been held locally to discuss how the Calais waterfront could be developed in a way that would draw tourist dollars into the local economy without disturbing the area’s natural beauty.

One big proposal: a heritage center focused on St. Croix Island.

Last year, the park service announced it would explore the feasibility of building a $6 million cultural and natural heritage center in downtown Calais. The center would celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the area, including St. Croix Island, Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge and the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Dianne Tilton, executive director of the Sunrise County Economic Council, said Thursday that plans for the heritage center remain on track.

Paul Haertel, superintendent of Acadia National Park, whose staff created the general management plan for the island, said the park service prepared a list of projects and submitted them to Interior Department budget planners. Items on the list went through several levels of review before being included in the federal budget. “It was during that review process that the priorities were changed, and the project was delayed until 2003 and 2004,” Haertel said.

The superintendent said the park service would make every effort to move that time line up so the work could be completed on the parking lot and interpretive trail in time for the 2004 celebration. “If we had the design money in 2002 and the construction money in 2003, it could be done in time for 2004,” Haertel said.

So that the project will not be delayed, U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, requesting $90,000 in seed money.

“They have stressed the importance that this appropriation be made and construction be completed in time for the international commemoration in 2004,” Collins spokeswoman Felicia Knight said Thursday. Collins is “aware of the historical significance of the site and of the expectation for a good celebration in 2004, and has stressed this to the Appropriations Committee.”

Snowe’s spokesman, Dave Lackey, said that if the Appropriations Committee approved the $90,000, the project could stay on track. “It would have been easier if the administration had funded this as the National Park Service requested,” he said. Whether the $90,000 will be appropriated won’t be decided for several months.

U.S. Rep. John Baldacci said in a telephone interview Thursday that he has been seeking funding through the House Appropriations Committee to ensure the project is completed in 2002. “I am going to ask the committee to lock in $803,000, and further ask them to provide upfront planning and technical assistance monies to further lock in this project,” he said.

Each year, the House and Senate appropriations panels hash out differences between their spending bills for a final version. If passed, the spending bill that covers the Interior Department goes to the president for signature.

Keith Guttormsen, executive director of the Calais Regional Chamber of Commerce and co-chairman of the 2004 Coordinating Committee, said that although it appears the latest federal wrinkle is a setback, he has not given up hope. “I think we can work through the congressional delegation and get this worked out,” he said.

The yearlong celebration in 2004 is expected to attract more than 400,000 visitors to the area, Guttormsen said.

Lee Sochasky, executive director of the St. Croix International Waterway Commission, said it is “absolutely critical” that the site be ready for 2004. “Thousands of visitors will be here for a world celebration of the 400th anniversary of the French settlement in North America. … It is unimaginable that planned parking and interpretation would not be in place for this once-in-a-lifetime event.”


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