Business owners and local officials in Wiscasset are starting to lose patience with a Main Street reconstruction project that has dragged on for three years, leaving an eyesore in the center of the self-proclaimed “prettiest village in Maine” as it gears up for another summer tourism season.
In April 2021, hundreds of bricks fell off the facade of the Wawenock block, a historic building on Route 1 just a few doors down from the busy Red’s Eats lobster restaurant and the Sheepscot River beyond it.
Nobody was injured in the collapse, which was caused by deterioration of the steel ties that held the facade together. But the repairs still haven’t been finished, with the building covered in tarps and scaffolding. And while its owners say they expect most of the work to finally be done by June 1, they’re also locked in a legal dispute with their insurance company after it declined to pay for the fix.
Local officials made their irritation clear during a recent Select Board meeting, when Town Manager Dennis Simmons noted that there have been no visible signs of progress and that “it’s time to get tough with this.”
Simmons indicated that he wants the town’s attorney to “find something,” even if it’s a fine for litter, to bring to the Select Board to push the Wawenock project along, as was first reported by the Wiscasset Newspaper.
“They’ve dragged this out and they’ve dragged this out,” Simmons said at the meeting. “I am so frustrated with this, as is everybody else in this room. This is ridiculous.”
In an email, Simmons said the construction is “clearly an eyesore” and likely discourages potential customers from stopping and shopping in Wiscasset. He said the town doesn’t want to rack up any legal fees, but has passed a property maintenance ordinance and is looking at potential enforcement of that ordinance.
First built in 1858, the Wawenock block was named after the Wawenock band of the Penobscots who were native to the region, according to the Historical Marker Database. Over the decades, businesses in the block have included a bank, a dry goods store, a pharmacist and hair dressers.
Mark Robinson, a spokesperson for the company that owns the block, Wawenock LLC, said the delays have been caused by “ongoing behind-the-scenes work.” In an email, he said the bricks are going up, and repairs are expected to be finished soon.
Wawenock LLC sued its insurance company, Patrons Oxford Insurance, one year ago after it declined to cover more than $1 million in damages from the collapsed facade, according to a complaint filed in Lincoln County Superior Court. Those damages included repair costs and the loss of rental income from commercial retailers while the building is being fixed.
In response to the lawsuit — also first reported by the Wiscasset Newspaper — the insurance company claimed that Wawenock knew for several years about the deterioration of steel ties and declined to take action before the collapse. But Wawenock LLC says that the steel ties were “hidden from view” and the collapse was unexpected.
Both companies now say they are going through arbitration to settle the matter, but Robinson said the negotiations are not holding back the repairs.
At least one local business is also getting tired of the delays.
Wiscasset Bay Gallery, which used to be in the Wawenock block before the facade collapsed, has since moved to another space next door, said director and founder Keith Oehmig. Since the large building is covered in plastic and construction materials, Oehmig said potential customers sometimes don’t even know his business is open.
When he recently participated in a pop-up event in Rockland, some former customers came up to him, stating they thought the Wiscasset location had closed. Combined with the pandemic that was ongoing when the collapse happened, Oehmig said it has put a damper on the local economy.
“We’re not even really sure what normal is anymore,” Oehmig said.
Wiscasset Bay Gallery has many loyal customers, Oehmig said, so he’s still making a profit. But he’s ready for the construction to be over.