Food Pantry Working To Snazz Up Former Mama's
Verizon Antennas on Fire Station Tweaked, Mira Monte Inn Changes Approved
BAR HARBOR—The Bar Harbor Food Pantry at 34 Kennebec Street appeared before the Design Review Board, Thursday, September 12, to have changes to its exterior siding, windows, doors, paving of the parking lot, and installation of planters approved. The planter design will be like its neighbor, Reel Pizza.
The property is being remodeled from a restaurant into a food pantry. It was formerly Mama DiMatteo’s.
In a press release in April, the pantry’s board of directors announced the purchase. Faced with a historical rise in the need for its services, late in 2023, the board looked for a new home that would allow the pantry to meet the needs of community members facing food insecurity.
Three MDI residents supplied almost half the total project cost. The pantry had been located in the back basement of the YWCA MDI on Mount Desert Street for 25 years.
The pantry will use the existing ingress and egress at the Firefly Lane site. Historical parking spaces in front of the building will continue.
Prior to the Design Review Board discussion, new member Bo Jennings disclosed that he was the president of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce board and one of his employers is a board member of the Bar Harbor Food Pantry. The board unanimously voted that he did not have a conflict of interest.
Tom Reeve, executive director of the pantry, represented the plan. He wanted the building to all match in its exterior and also to replace the older windows with triple-pane windows that are top to bottom opening rather than the current windows which are side to side opening. All three doors would be replaced with commercial grade doors.
The pantry will be addressing the rot in the building and other issues as it remodels.
Exterior work includes replacing exterior siding, windows, and doors, paving and striping the parking lot, and installing wooden planters to act as parking space end stops to prevent building damage and provide a pedestrian safety barrier.
VERIZON ANTENNAS APPROVED AGAIN
The installation of Verizon antennas will remain on top of 37 Firefly Lane, the town’s historic fire station. A canister holds three antennas. Radios are situated behind the antennas, which are being replaced.
“These antennas like anything, they wear out after time,” a representative of the project said.
The antennas will be replaced by other antennas of the same size and height.
“It is not exactly the same, it will look different,” Angela Chamberlain said.
The antennas will come further off the canister that holds them by about an inch and a half than they currently do.
The support for the devices will be wider that the current structure, but under the peak of the fire department and not visible.
TEP Northeast (TEP NE) conducted an on-site visual survey on March 6, 2024.
MIRA MONTE INN
Bruce Ueno represented the Mira Monte Inn at 69 Mount Desert Street. He said the front facade, door and window trim, and other elements need to be replaced, so he wants to make a more decorative element to the facade. His changes were approved.
OFFICERS
The officers were voted in as a slate at the beginning of the meeting and approved unanimously. They are the same officers that were approved last year: Chair Barbara Sassaman, Vice Chair Erin Cough, Secretary Andrea Lepcio.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
The packet of information for the meeting
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Hi Carrie, I understand that Tom Reeve (Food Pantry manager) contacted you just yesterday about updated plans to move Serendipity to a new location. I am part of the volunteer group that is spearheading this effort. It’s success ( or failure) will depend on our ability to recruit more volunteers, since the new facility will be entirely volunteer run. If and when you do that story, we would very much appreciate it if you could add a plug for volunteers. It really is fun and rewarding to volunteer at Serendipity. We meet so many great people and see close-up how much our services are appreciated. If you would like to know more give me a call or text or email. 207-812-8903. Thanks so much, Carrie.
P.S. I would have sent a letter but time is of the essence. 😁