There Oughta Be...
I get all these crazy thoughts and ideas all the time. Well, crazy or genius? You be the judge.
I get all these crazy thoughts and ideas all the time. Well, crazy or genius? You be the judge.
#7: Mid-Block Pedestrian Passage From Main Street To The Concourse
So when discussing buildings and businesses on Main Street, Waterville, I hear frequent complaint, "But there's no parking." And over in the vast parking ocean known as The Concourse, the people are a-sayin', "Oh man...I had to park all the way over in The Concourse!" So what do we need to make The Concourse a more favorable parking lot actually serving Main Street? Well, I say a mid-block pedestrian passage, like they have in Skowhegan (in the middle of a much shorter block) - see below.
When Adams & Worth closed down, it left a vacant space, piercing the "Wall O' Buildings" above, from Main Street to the Concourse, in the perfect location mid-block, in front of a crosswalk, and directly across from Castonguay Square. But soon Holy Cannoli moved in, and there's no way I'd suggest disturbing that because Holy Cannoli is frickin' awesome. But it sure would be nice. Here's some photos of the deal in Skowhegan:
#6: Chipotle Mexican Grill on Water Street
Down on Water Street, directly across from Hathaway Creative Center....
#5: Fish Observation Window At Lockwood Dam Fish Elevator
Fishway observation room at the Merikoski power plant in Finland
http://yle.fi/uutiset/500kg_of_salmon_a_day/6278674 |
Underwater Observation Room on the Chitose River in Japan
http://www.city.chitose.hokkaido.jp/tourist/salmon/e-html/observ.html |
At the Lockwood power generation station next to the Hathaway building in Waterville there is a fish elevator. It is the outcome, I believe, of a lengthy environmental litigation settlement agreement I won't get into here. Here are pictures:
I think the sign in picture 3 explains things pretty well - that's an overhead view diagram they drew. As I remember from some reading years ago, American shad is the indicator species under the settlement agreement (and a FASCINATING BOOK about shad is The Founding Fish by John McPhee). When the annual count of shad reaches either 6,000 or 8,000 or some such, the next dam up the river, the UAH Hydro Dam at about the Winslow/Benton town line, has to install fish passage mechanisms, or be removed. A few years ago, this same obligation was what led to the removal of the Fort Halifax dam on the Sebasticook River, just about 1/2 mile from where the above pictures were taken. Currently, as explained on the sign, the fish get a truck ride up the Kennebec to points north of several obstructing dams to...well..."do their thing."
Anyway, this thing is smack dab in the middle of Waterville, next to the Hathaway Creative Center, seen at right. Currently, it not doing anybody a whole lotta good (other than the fish, of course). And while I support the idea, in the abstract, of restoring the mind-boggling spring fish runs of old to the Kennebec River, I'd like it more if I could see what's going on. In the spring, I see the trucks there and the men up on the sorting platforms, and the hoses inserted in big tanker trucks, but there's no way to get up close and see the fish.
|
Damariscotta, Maine, is pretty famous for its fish ladder (http://damariscottamills.org/) , featuring spring runs of alewives of over 400,000. They have events, and festivals, and a historical component. It's nifty, and people actually travel there to see it. Whenever I talk about fish in the river, and the alewife runs at the Benton dam and Webber Pond, everybody always says, "Well, have you ever been to Damariscotta? That's amazing." Well, I haven't yet, actually. But when that topic comes up, I want people to say, "Well, you've gotta see the fish elevator observation room at Waterville."
The Japanese site, above, explains that, "The Observation room utilizes a small section of the reinforced concrete embankment and is comprised of seven acrylic windows which are 1 meter high, 2 meters wide and 8.5 centimeters thick. In total the windows span about 30 meters of the river bank." Well, where could we put that?
I'm not saying that this alone is going to draw hoards of tourists and residents from elsewhere in Maine to see the fish and drop a lot of cash. But in conjunction with the other ideas here, and yet to come, and the efforts of Waterville Main Street, Common Street Arts, etc., it would add one more item to create a half-day (or more) experience for visitors to downtown Waterville. |
#4: Annual Mural Competition On The Side Of Former Scott Paper Mill
This is the former Scott Paper Mill; it started as the Hollingsworth & Whitney Mill; now it's the Kennebec River Development Park (full of a mash-up of small manufacturing enterprises and storage space). It's, let's be frank, pretty ugly. And it's what you look at when standing at Head of Falls on the Waterville side of the river. Head of Falls is otherwise a very scenic location.
Okay, well see that big grey concrete wall in the middle? Here's my idea. Annually, or maybe bi-annually if people think annually is too much, we hold an art competition for mural artists. I am actually not a big fan of murals (neither is our governor). But I am pretty sure that possible canvases of this size for mural artists are not that common. And a blank concrete wall is worse than a mural. So, we make a big public artsy deal of an art competition. Artists submit proposals for a mural on that wall. Their studies or mock-ups for it are put on display for a period of time and the public votes. Maybe via the internet and/or a gallery display downtown. The winner gets to put their mural on that wall - for one or two years. There could be an exhibition-opening event at Head of Falls with the artist present, a speech, food, music, and then the big unveiling. At night, it could be illuminated with energy-efficient LED spotlights. It'd be part of the whole creative economy thing. See #2, below. And maybe you could get a big paint manufacturing company to sponsor it by donating the paint. They could use it in their advertising to showcase the durability of their paints. Believe me, riverside Maine weather would give it a good torture-test.
Yes, yes, I know there's obstacles. Including permission from the mill owner, cost of installing a walkway/scaffolding system below the wall for artists to work from, yada, yada, yada. But a co-worker once said, "there are no problems - only opportunities to excel." Best said with a big, cheesy grin.
Okay, well see that big grey concrete wall in the middle? Here's my idea. Annually, or maybe bi-annually if people think annually is too much, we hold an art competition for mural artists. I am actually not a big fan of murals (neither is our governor). But I am pretty sure that possible canvases of this size for mural artists are not that common. And a blank concrete wall is worse than a mural. So, we make a big public artsy deal of an art competition. Artists submit proposals for a mural on that wall. Their studies or mock-ups for it are put on display for a period of time and the public votes. Maybe via the internet and/or a gallery display downtown. The winner gets to put their mural on that wall - for one or two years. There could be an exhibition-opening event at Head of Falls with the artist present, a speech, food, music, and then the big unveiling. At night, it could be illuminated with energy-efficient LED spotlights. It'd be part of the whole creative economy thing. See #2, below. And maybe you could get a big paint manufacturing company to sponsor it by donating the paint. They could use it in their advertising to showcase the durability of their paints. Believe me, riverside Maine weather would give it a good torture-test.
Yes, yes, I know there's obstacles. Including permission from the mill owner, cost of installing a walkway/scaffolding system below the wall for artists to work from, yada, yada, yada. But a co-worker once said, "there are no problems - only opportunities to excel." Best said with a big, cheesy grin.
#3: Scenic Steam Train from Fairfield, through Waterville, Winslow, Augusta, Hallowell, Gardiner, & Farmingdale to Brunswick
Sure, this would be really complicated, coordinating railroads, relaying a bit of track in downtown Augusta, a ton of money, multi-town cooperation, blah, blah, blah. But this is the page for CRAZY ideas right?
Alright - go to Google Maps and look up Waterville, Maine. Zoom in and find the railroad right where it crosses the Kennebec next to the Spring Street Bridge over the old black and rust iron trestle. Yeah, now, first follow it north through the railroad yard up to Downtown Fairfield where you could pull up and stop right behind the historic, vacant, and FOR SALE Gerald Hotel (update 3/14/13 - this part of the plan is off the table, as The Gerald is being renovated into senior housing). You could spend the night in a historic hotel. Good enough, now run back down the track to Head of Falls, where you could disembark, stroll downtown Waterville (under the beautiful lights - see idea #1 way down below), see a show at the Opera House, walk on the Two Cent Bridge, and shop downtown. Back on the train, cross the trestle. Now, through downtown Winslow and a stop at Fort Halifax Park to see the old fort blockhouse and the Kennebec River. Back on the train, right past Fort Halifax (and people, when I say "right past" I mean REALLY CLOSE. Railroads didn't change course for anybody. They went right through the heart of the action, usually within a 10 feet to 50 yards of all this stuff).
Now, you keep going south, through Winslow and staying so close to the Kennebec River that the train wheels are practically getting wet. It's like that all the way down the east side of the river, crossing bridges over tributary streams, till you get to Augusta. There, you'd cross back over to the west side of the river, and continue right through the heart of downtown historic, riverfront Augusta, where you could stop again and see the historic buildings, eat some more, and walk a short distance to tour Fort Western - the oldest surviving wooden fort in the U.S. or North America, or some other notable designation. Back on the train and riding down the waterfront all the way to Hallowell and Gardiner, with more historic downtowns and shops and restaurants. Or maybe you're a really fit, cyclist type. So here the train puts you off with your bikes and you ride right beside it along the Kennebec River Rail Trail all the way to Farmingdale. Then you get back on the train with your bikes and head to the bar car for a little "apres cycle" or whatever. You keep riding the train all the way down to pull in to Brunswick - with all that the Bath/Brunswick region has to offer.
Now all this way, I envision you a chuffing along with the clickety-clack of a REAL coal-powered steam engine. Not no wussy-man train that looks old fashioned but is secretly a diesel, but a REAL steam engine, like the ones that have on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway in Colorado. Click on the link or the picture above to read about it. If you're ever near it, ride it. You'll love it. You travel along sheer cliffs and canyons, winding along a rock-strewn river in the Rocky Mountains up to historic, old-west Silverton, cradled in a valley in the mountains with snow-capped peaks all around. It's got wood boardwalks and old style saloons and every western tourist trap on earth. Now we haven't got the mountains, but we have the mighty Kennebec, amazing history, and the stunning fall colors. So I think this could work here. We've also got a LOT of tourists, if you just give them a solid, charming thing to stop for in Central Maine. Or more to say, to ride on in Central Maine.
Now, once you're in Brunswick, as you know, the Downeaster Amtrak train service from Boston is being extended from Portland all the way up to Brunswick. So, under my plan, you could take a train all the way from Fairfield to Boston. This will suit my selfish motivation of wanting to hop the train, ride to downtown Boston while playing card games, sipping scotch and soda, and reading and looking at beautiful Maine out the window, and then touring downtown Boston, seeing a touring Broadway show or something, and coming back up at the end of a three-day weekend. And I feel pretty sure a lot of Boston people would love to do the reverse. They'd probably love to catch a chamber orchestra at Gymnopedie (see idea #2 below).
All around the train stops should flourish hotels, restaurants, and your proverbial tourist traps. It would cherish and revitalize the historic downtowns and waterfronts of Gardiner, Hallowell, Augusta, Waterville and Fairfield. In each of these towns, herculean efforts by many groups are under way to do just that. This railway would just tie them together and IGNITE the whole mixture of historic sights, farmers' markets, seafood stands, restaurants, syrup producers, etc. because the train track runs right past them all. There's a bit of challenge at Augusta, where they foolishly tore up a segment of track between what PanAm owns and what I gather the State of Maine owns, but that could be reversed with a will and money. And keep in mind that on this whole ride you are right on the river bank of the Kennebec. I mean, there are no man-made structures closer. Because of the history of the railroads and the eminent domain powers they had in the 1800s, they got the prime riverfront land, and the view cannot be beat.
When I think about it, it's so easy to keep spinning off related ideas for businesses and stuff that I'm practically stubbing my toes on ideas. So, I haven't got the courage, and I haven't got the money. I've just got ideas. Any investors out there?
ALL ABOARD!!!!?
P.S., for more inspiration, check out the Essex Steam Train in Connecticut and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in New Mexico. I've ridden on the Durango and New Mexico trains in my youth with fond, fond, fond, fond memories. I aim to one day ride the Essex.
Also - think this is crazy? Wanna hear crazier? What if the train kept going north to Newport, hung a left north near Bangor, to Brownville Junction, and then back west to Greenville at MOOSEHEAD LAKE. Where you could ride on the steamboat Katahdin, and maybe stay at the grand resorts Plum Creek Timber would like to develop - harkening back to the days of the Kineo House.
Alright - go to Google Maps and look up Waterville, Maine. Zoom in and find the railroad right where it crosses the Kennebec next to the Spring Street Bridge over the old black and rust iron trestle. Yeah, now, first follow it north through the railroad yard up to Downtown Fairfield where you could pull up and stop right behind the historic, vacant, and FOR SALE Gerald Hotel (update 3/14/13 - this part of the plan is off the table, as The Gerald is being renovated into senior housing). You could spend the night in a historic hotel. Good enough, now run back down the track to Head of Falls, where you could disembark, stroll downtown Waterville (under the beautiful lights - see idea #1 way down below), see a show at the Opera House, walk on the Two Cent Bridge, and shop downtown. Back on the train, cross the trestle. Now, through downtown Winslow and a stop at Fort Halifax Park to see the old fort blockhouse and the Kennebec River. Back on the train, right past Fort Halifax (and people, when I say "right past" I mean REALLY CLOSE. Railroads didn't change course for anybody. They went right through the heart of the action, usually within a 10 feet to 50 yards of all this stuff).
Now, you keep going south, through Winslow and staying so close to the Kennebec River that the train wheels are practically getting wet. It's like that all the way down the east side of the river, crossing bridges over tributary streams, till you get to Augusta. There, you'd cross back over to the west side of the river, and continue right through the heart of downtown historic, riverfront Augusta, where you could stop again and see the historic buildings, eat some more, and walk a short distance to tour Fort Western - the oldest surviving wooden fort in the U.S. or North America, or some other notable designation. Back on the train and riding down the waterfront all the way to Hallowell and Gardiner, with more historic downtowns and shops and restaurants. Or maybe you're a really fit, cyclist type. So here the train puts you off with your bikes and you ride right beside it along the Kennebec River Rail Trail all the way to Farmingdale. Then you get back on the train with your bikes and head to the bar car for a little "apres cycle" or whatever. You keep riding the train all the way down to pull in to Brunswick - with all that the Bath/Brunswick region has to offer.
Now all this way, I envision you a chuffing along with the clickety-clack of a REAL coal-powered steam engine. Not no wussy-man train that looks old fashioned but is secretly a diesel, but a REAL steam engine, like the ones that have on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway in Colorado. Click on the link or the picture above to read about it. If you're ever near it, ride it. You'll love it. You travel along sheer cliffs and canyons, winding along a rock-strewn river in the Rocky Mountains up to historic, old-west Silverton, cradled in a valley in the mountains with snow-capped peaks all around. It's got wood boardwalks and old style saloons and every western tourist trap on earth. Now we haven't got the mountains, but we have the mighty Kennebec, amazing history, and the stunning fall colors. So I think this could work here. We've also got a LOT of tourists, if you just give them a solid, charming thing to stop for in Central Maine. Or more to say, to ride on in Central Maine.
Now, once you're in Brunswick, as you know, the Downeaster Amtrak train service from Boston is being extended from Portland all the way up to Brunswick. So, under my plan, you could take a train all the way from Fairfield to Boston. This will suit my selfish motivation of wanting to hop the train, ride to downtown Boston while playing card games, sipping scotch and soda, and reading and looking at beautiful Maine out the window, and then touring downtown Boston, seeing a touring Broadway show or something, and coming back up at the end of a three-day weekend. And I feel pretty sure a lot of Boston people would love to do the reverse. They'd probably love to catch a chamber orchestra at Gymnopedie (see idea #2 below).
All around the train stops should flourish hotels, restaurants, and your proverbial tourist traps. It would cherish and revitalize the historic downtowns and waterfronts of Gardiner, Hallowell, Augusta, Waterville and Fairfield. In each of these towns, herculean efforts by many groups are under way to do just that. This railway would just tie them together and IGNITE the whole mixture of historic sights, farmers' markets, seafood stands, restaurants, syrup producers, etc. because the train track runs right past them all. There's a bit of challenge at Augusta, where they foolishly tore up a segment of track between what PanAm owns and what I gather the State of Maine owns, but that could be reversed with a will and money. And keep in mind that on this whole ride you are right on the river bank of the Kennebec. I mean, there are no man-made structures closer. Because of the history of the railroads and the eminent domain powers they had in the 1800s, they got the prime riverfront land, and the view cannot be beat.
When I think about it, it's so easy to keep spinning off related ideas for businesses and stuff that I'm practically stubbing my toes on ideas. So, I haven't got the courage, and I haven't got the money. I've just got ideas. Any investors out there?
ALL ABOARD!!!!?
P.S., for more inspiration, check out the Essex Steam Train in Connecticut and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in New Mexico. I've ridden on the Durango and New Mexico trains in my youth with fond, fond, fond, fond memories. I aim to one day ride the Essex.
Also - think this is crazy? Wanna hear crazier? What if the train kept going north to Newport, hung a left north near Bangor, to Brownville Junction, and then back west to Greenville at MOOSEHEAD LAKE. Where you could ride on the steamboat Katahdin, and maybe stay at the grand resorts Plum Creek Timber would like to develop - harkening back to the days of the Kineo House.
#1: Lights over Main Street, Waterville
There oughta be lights like these hung over Main Street in Waterville, in the summertime at least. They could be LEDs to save energy, but should be warm in tone (not ice cold), and should be fashioned to look like these old-timey ones. I can't remember where I first saw such a thing. I feel it must have been in a film set in Italy or France in the 1920s, 1930s, or 1940s. It gives things a festive, romantic feel. It would work great in Waterville where the building facades are quite high on both sides of the street, forming a canyon-like effect. Having the lights would sort of "cap" Main Street. Sort of like a ceiling of lights that blurs the boundary between being indoors and being outdoors.
They'd look nice in the Fall, too. And if you kept them up at Christmas time and bought the clever color-changing LEDs, they could be set to red or green Christmas colors. I think it would give downtown a classy feel at night.
They'd look nice in the Fall, too. And if you kept them up at Christmas time and bought the clever color-changing LEDs, they could be set to red or green Christmas colors. I think it would give downtown a classy feel at night.