PROSPECT, MAINE, Maine — The horizon is slightly emptier now in Bucksport. On Tuesday, the main stack of what used to be the Verso paper mill came tumbling down, leaving debris and smoke in its path.
The mill played a large role in Bucksport's history, as well as the surrounding community's. When it shut down in December 2014, hundreds of people lost their jobs, and it took the town a few years to try to bounce back.
That's why watching the stack make its final descent the morning of October 29, a little before 8 a.m., was so emotional for people.
"A lot of people worked in the mill for years, and it was a sad thing when they shut down. Maybe they should have kept it going," said Walter Browning. He lives in Stockton Springs now but says he worked at the Verso paper mill for 32 years until 2011.
When recounting the day the mill closed, Browning choked up.
"It was just a sad day for the people in the mill when I watched them walk out of there, you know? It almost put you to tears."
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Bucksport town manager Susan Lessard wanted to honor the mill's legacy by inviting people to watch its main stack's demolition from across the Penobscot River at Fort Knox.
"It's the last piece of the site to come down, and that has a great significance to people in the area," Lessard explained to NEWS CENTER Maine.
She added that there has been some type of mill on that site for about 100 years, which is why Tuesday was so significant to some people -- especially those who have deep family roots in mill work.
"This mill has been part of the history of this community for so long that it's only right that the people of the community have the opportunity to do this -- say goodbye to the stack."
The viewing even hit home with some people who don't have these generational connections -- but who can tell how important the mill was to this town. Lynn Moriarty, for instance, is retired and has been traveling with her husband. They just moved to Verona Island from Florida, but she said she wanted to come to Fort Knox bright and early to see what so many people have told them about.
"On our property that we bought, there was this big stone wheel, and we really had no idea what it was until we met someone who worked at the paper mill in the past and said, 'Oh, that's one of the grinders from the mill."
Those memories are everywhere, but people say it's time to move on -- which is exactly what the town is doing.
Whole Oceans will be groundbreaking part of the site in the spring for a $250 million salmon farm, creating between 50 and 75 jobs in its first stage. The Maine Maritime Academy will also likely be putting a continuing education operation on the lot.
"That's the way it goes," Browning said with a shrug.
