Where Should Central Maine’s First Food Truck Park Be Located?
It really was not that long ago that, at least in Maine, food trucks only served up the basics. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and fries, for example.
These days, though, you can get all kinds of tasty creations from a food truck. Tacos, Thai food, wood-fired pizza, poutine, and more.
Now that the 207 has a wide variety of food trucks, the next logical step in the evolution of the food truck industry is the food truck park. Not sure what that is? Well, basically, it is a space set aside where anywhere from a handful, to several dozen, food trucks set up shop. It is almost like having a food truck food court. People can wader from truck to truck getting exactly what they want - a pulled pork sandwich here, a side of poutine there, etc.
There are several of these in Maine already. The most notable is the one located at Congdon's Donuts in Wells. The food truck park, called Congdon's After Dark, has in just a few short years become iconic. There has also been a lot of talk of allowing groups of food trucks to park on Portland's Eastern Prom.
We have yet to have a real food truck park in Central Maine, though.
So, we want to know where you would like to see the first food truck park in Central Maine located?
We have given this a little thought and here are our picks for where we'd like to see a food truck park located. Keep in mind that these are just our thoughts. To our knowledge, there has been no real discussion about any towns or businesses opening their own food truck park.
Mill Park in Augusta - The park, which is located on the site of the old Edwards Mills, has previously been used for food truck festivals and welcomes a handful of food trucks over the 4th of July and for our free summer concert series.
Head of Falls in Waterville - Like Mill Park, Head of Falls is no stranger to food trucks. Recently, the wildly popular Taste of Waterville is held at the beautiful Kennebec River adjacent park.
Waterfront Park in Augusta - For decades, this park hosted the city's free concert series. If it were used as a food truck park, there is space for somewhere just shy of a dozen trucks and there is a shaded grassy space for people to sit and eat after getting their food.
Waterfront Park in Gardiner - Gardiner has a gorgeous waterfront park. The area features a beautiful walkway adjacent to the river, lots of lawn space, and plenty of parking. As it is in a spot where the Kennebec River deepens, it is a popular boating spot. On top of that, there are docks there, so someone could pull their boat in for a quick snack before going back down the river.
Granite City Park in Hallowell - A smaller park with limited parking, it probably could not accommodate more than a handful of food trucks. There are some really great things about this spot, though. The boardwalk and Adirondack chairs make for a great place to hang out while you eat your food.
What do you think? Where do you think Central Maine's first food truck park should be located? Let us know what you think by sending us a message inside our radio station app.