Maine Maritime Museum will break ground this week on $3.3 million renovation project to redesign the south side of its campus.
The project, “First Impressions,” will include complete redevelopment of the front entrance and 5-acre south campus, with a goal of enhancing visitor experience, creating an ecologically friendly and attractive landscape to border the Kennebec River and Washington Street, and addressing a lack of accessibility for people with disabilities, crumbling front steps and deteriorating parking services
The renovation will include native plantings, “expansive greenspace,” and will use interactive elements to allow a deeper appreciation of the history and ecology of the Kennebec River.
Groves of 2,078 native Maine shrubs, 1,446 native Maine perennials and grasses, and 73 native Maine tree species used in traditional shipbuilding will be featured, as well as a boardwalk along the riverbank with views of coastal wetlands, and a special garden to honor Navy families adjacent to the “BIW: Building America’s Navy” exhibit.
“Maine’s maritime heritage is critically important to the state culturally and economically, and deserves the best representation we can provide,” Amy Lent, executive director of the museum, said in a release.
Commercial landscape architects Richardson & Associates of Saco created the design; Crooker Construction of Topsham will manage the project working with Pine Tree Engineering.
Phase One of the project will begin this month, with the entire project expected to be completed, pending funding, by spring 2020. The museum will remain open during the renovation.
The museum has raised nearly 90 percent of the $3.3 fundraising goal, according to the release.