GARDINER — Dwight Denham remembers T.W. Dick, the steel fabricating company, as a good place to do business.
“In its heyday, it was the place to go when you needed anything fabricated,” Denham said last week, watching his granddaughter, Lydia Exley, play at the playground on the Gardiner Common. He had gone to T.W. Dick himself to have some steel rods made.
It was, he said, a sad thing when the business closed.
But now that the city-owned property is on the verge of redevelopment, Denham will be happy to see the buildings on it go.
“It’s been an eyesore for the downtown, especially when people have been trying so hard to make Gardiner attractive to business,” he said.
If the schedule that’s now in place holds, the buildings on three of the four former T.W. Dick parcels are expected to be demolished by the end of the year. The fourth parcel is vacant land.
The city of Gardiner, through its consultant Ransom Consulting, has issued a request for bids to clear the parcels in three stages: abatement of asbestos and any other hazardous materials in the three buildings; demolition; and construction of a soil cover system on the site, which would include removing trees, stabilizing slopes and erosion control. The first two tasks are expected to be completed by the end of the year, and the third by next spring. Contractors may bid on any or all of the tasks. Bids are due by 2 p.m. Friday at Ransom Consulting offices in Portland.
Tony LaPlante, Gardiner’s public works director, said attendance at last week’s pre-bid meeting on the former T.W. Dick site was strong with about a dozen contractors showing up.
LaPlante said he expects work will begin on the site by the middle of October.
For people like Martha Bangs, the move comes with some disappointment. The Dresden woman, who comes to Gardiner to shop at Renys, which she was doing last week, and to get her hair cut, said the buildings are an eyesore.
Even so, Bangs said, “I like to see them brought back. I think clever, creative people could probably do something with them,” she said.
The buildings on the properties, two enormous sheds and former offices, are being demolished to pave the way for three new developments on the site.
Late last year, city officials, collaborating with officials at MaineGeneral Medical Center, selected Portland real estate developer Developers Collaborative to build a medical arts building at Summer and Bridge streets and on an adjoining parcel at 2 Highland Ave. that has been bought for the project. Developers Collaborative is now working to secure approvals to build two affordable housing complexes, one for seniors and one for workforce on two other Summer Street parcels.
Like Bangs, Teen Griffin would like to see old industrial buildings preserved. The Augusta woman works in Gardiner and often drives by the highly visible intersection where the T.W. Dick buildings have been standing for decades.
“They are not super attractive,” Griffin said, but she added that the redevelopment sounds like a good idea for Gardiner.
Getting to this point has taken several years of planning, some negotiation and grant awards for the city to secure ownership of the property and seek both state and federal grants to clean up pollutants on a site along the Cobbosseecontee Stream that has been used for one industry or another for two centuries.
Denham, who has owned a home in Gardiner since 1980, said he has seen his property taxes go “from one end to the other.” Since 1987, his property taxes have tripled, he said. He said he appreciates the services the city provides with its police and fire departments and particularly the library, but he hopes additional development will help ease the tax burden on residents and keep people living in Gardiner.
“It’s a great little community,” he said.
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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