The town of Brunswick has several projects in the works that are set to make an impact of the face of the town.
The Brunswick Town Council voted on April 5 to install a three-way traffic light to the intersection of Maine Street and McKeen Street. In addition, the Maine Department of Transportation will also install an audible signal at the crosswalk in order to help those who are visually disabled.
The new traffic light is a result of fears that the area is "a very dangerous intersection, as far as high accident rates go," said Councilor Margo Knight.
According to the Brunswick Times Record, five crashes have occurred at the Maine-McKeen intersection in the past two years.
Some councilors, however, voiced concern over the impact the light might have on the residents living on McKeen Street.
"Some were against it and thought is was not needed," said Knight. "Some thought it would change the character of the neighborhood—make it more urban rather than residential."
"I actually went to the meeting intending to vote in favor because of the upcoming increase in traffic from the new elementary school, but Councilor [Benjamin] Tucker spoke of changing the character of the neighborhood and that really made me think, 'Hmm, maybe we should try to look for other solutions,'" said Town Councilor At-Large Debbie Atwood.
Atwood said she was in favor of investigating other options, like a three-way stop sign, so she voted in opposition of the light at the meeting.
When the council voted in favor of the traffic light, Atwood said she was not disappointed in the vote because the intersection was an apparent "safety issue."
"I think with the new school coming in 2011 and the district forecasting nine or 10 school buses at the intersection, the light really will be necessary because the school will pick up activity throughout the neighborhood," said Knight.
The construction of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School is scheduled to conclude in the summer of 2011 and will open for students in September 2011. The school will be located on Stanwood, McKeen and Spring Streets.
So far, the foundation for the school has been laid and the contractors have been erecting the building's steel frame. They will begin paving the driveways and seeding the athletic fields in the next few weeks.
According to the owner's representative, Mel Cole, the first component the contractors completed was the school's 40-foot chimney.
"The old high school had a huge chimney, and chimney swifts lived there. There was a lot of concern in the town about losing those birds. They built that chimney first because chimney swifts usually came back in May, so right now, we are waiting for the birds," said Cole.
The academic classroom section of the building will be two-stories tall, while the gymnasium wing and library, arts and music classrooms wing will both be one story tall.
"The weather has been so good that the contractors have made great progress," said Cole. "We are actually a little head of schedule."
The former Grand City Variety building on Maine Street has recently found an owner after closing its doors in December 2008 due to declining sales.
Its new owner, Kip Stone, plans to use part of the building to open up an additional branch of his clothing retail store, Cool As A Moose. The lower level will be used to produce clothing for his company, Artforms, which sells screen-printed and embroidered clothing.
Stone said he initially heard about the closing of Grand City Variety because they were retailers of his Artforms brand.
"It took me a long time to recognize that it was a nice fit for my companies, Artforms and Cool As A Moose. I knew about the closing for a long, long time—long before I thought about looking into it. When I did, suddenly I saw how the space would look for both my companies," said Stone.
Stone is still looking for a tenant for the remaining section of space left in the building.
"I know many people are hoping another deli or food service would take the place of the old diner," said Stone. "That would be nice fit."
Stone's goal is to move into the building and be open for business by this October or November.
In the meantime, the building is being renovated in order to repair previous neglect.
"There's a lot of water in the building because the roof structure hadn't been repaired in a long time," said Stone.
"It's not a little building. I am trying to make this a home for my business and I want to do it right. I want to make sure the infrastructure is put together properly," added Stone.
When his plans for the building were publicly announced, Stone said the Brunswick community reaction was extremely welcoming.
"I didn't anticipate the amount of positive reaction that would come out of the community when I came into this project," said Stone. "I hope to turn it into the center of the town; it's been empty for a long time. It never hit me that this hole in the town is such a big deal for those who live there."
"I'm looking forward with getting on with this project and looking forward to the day I can call Brunswick my business home," said Stone. "It's a lot of work from now and then, but not that far off."