Central Maine Building Damaged By Fire Ordered Demolished

A downtown Gardiner building that was heavily damaged by fire nearly a decade ago will need to be torn down.

According to the KJ, on Wednesday, Maine Superior Court Justice Thomas McKeon ordered the demolition of the building at 235 Water Street in Gardiner.

The judgment comes after an adjacent building needed to be evacuated in February, the newspaper reported. The evacuation came over concerns that, if the building at 235 Water Street came down, it could cause injuries (or death) to those in the neighboring building's apartments.

The building in question is visible down the street in the below Google Street View image

The building will not come down immediately, though.

Right now, the City of Gardiner is taking quotes on the demolition project, according to the KJ.

But first, said Kris McNeill, Gardiner’s code enforcement officer, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission has to sign off on the demolition. It is estimated that getting that approval could take a couple of weeks.

The building has been sold several times since the 2015 fire.  Each owner hoped they could develop the historic building.  Sadly, none of those plans came to fruition.  In fact, the current owner, David Coulombe, made one last plea in order to save the building, according to the KJ, and he offered to sell the building to the owner of an abutting building for a dollar.

The offer was reportedly rejected.

The party responsible for the cost of the upcoming demolition will be decided in an upcoming hearing, according to the KJ.

You can read more details about the store HERE

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