BUCKSPORT, Maine — There's excitement in Bucksport as the town is set to redevelop its waterfront walkway.
The plan is to widen the walkway, add picnic areas, and make the area wheelchair accessible.
In the town once reliant on the now defunct mill, officials see this as a great opportunity.
Rich Rotella is the Bucksport Community and Economic Development manager. He hopes improving the waterfront walkway will attract more businesses and tourists to the area.
"We can have year-round access because our businesses on Main Street and the waterfront are opened all year round, and this will just be another way of getting visitors and community members to those locations," Rotella said.
"The goal is to provide a recreational means that will also provide economic benefit to our businesses in our town," Rotella explained.
Businesses on and off Main Street are welcoming the project with the hope it will bring extra foot traffic. The owner of Bolt in Bucksport, Patty Rowley, hopes her customers will stick around after shopping to enjoy the walkway waterfront amenities.
"It's a good economic driver as visitors come to town to walk the walkway and afterward they'll have lunch, they'll grab an ice cream, they'll grab a book at the bookstore, or they'll take a day trip over to the fort," Rotella noted.
Edward's Kitchen, an online bake-to-order, home-based business, sees potential for expansion once the project is completed by setting up a pop-up shop on the waterfront walkway.
Town leaders haven't nailed down the cost just yet, but hope to begin the walkway waterfront project by the end of the summer.
The expansion of the waterfront walkway could allow businesses to transform underutilized space leading to the waterfront, offer new amenities, attract cruise ship passengers, and increase foot traffic.
"As our motto says, we are rich in heritage, but looking into the future. So the expansion and improvement of the waterfront will only enhance visitors and citizens now and into the future," Rotella said.
The town is excited about the plan not only for the potential economic impact but an opportunity to improve shorefront armoring to address floods and erosion.