MILLINOCKET, Maine – Filth, structural disrepair, mold and a heavy infestation of fleas found at a former video store during an inspection will likely lead to the razing of the tax-acquired building, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said.
“It is just in poor shape,” Conlogue said Tuesday of the building.
Conlogue said he will likely recommend the demolition of the building to councilors when they meet at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Councilors inspected the former home of Movie Kingdom on Aroostook Avenue on Sept. 5 as part of what Councilor Michael Madore hoped would be the start of a cataloging of the town’s abandoned or troubled buildings.
The town got the Aroostook Avenue building as part of a foreclosure proceeding after its former owner failed in several attempts to sell it, Conlogue has said.
Hopes of rehabilitating the building faded during the walk-through, Madore said Tuesday.
“There was a lot of disrepair,” he said.
Madore has said he would like to see the town catalog its worst buildings as part of an urban renewal program. Many town buildings already have fallen into the cycle of decay that often comes with declining populations and increasing poverty, and Madore feels the properties might be abandoned.
“With everything that is going on, I would say that [renewal program] is not a priority right now,” Madore said. “We need to concentrate on this building and see where the recommendations may lead us or see where the council is on this.”
Another necessary story Nick, thanks!!!
Is is for those of us who live in Millinocket. Though in seveal articles I do not know when Mike Madore became the voice of the Town Council. I would think that would be part of the Council Chairman’s responsibilities, rather than comments from the same person what would seem the vast majority of the time.
Mike is the only one on the council that will talk to the author. This building should be put up for auction as tax acquired property before being torn down. Why do they call it ” raze” anyway ?
Agreed…try to sell or auction it first…
http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+raze&qpvt=raze&FORM=DTPDIA
Hopefully a little press will find a buyer to put it to use… Has it gone out to bid?
It would be less costly to tear the building down, and build a new one if they were to seel the land.
less costly for who? I buy buildings and put them back to use, some would have torn them down, whoes money are you saving?
OK lot2say, can you buy the building and put it “back to use”?
Fleas cannot be an excuse to tear down a building – they die within days and all new eggs will have hatched and died within weeks.
What’s with this fear of insects that’s infesting the BDN? There are clean methods of dealing with all unwanted species of plants, animals, and insects.
In the home, frequent vacuuming of crevices will keep fleas to a minimum, as will frequent brushing of the dog and cat outdoors, especially in the cooler weather coming up.
Feed animals some crushed fresh garlic hidden in their food plus Brewers’ Yeast (not baking yeast) you can get at health food stores, and they’ll be mostly flea-free, as will you if you do the same. Mosquitoes and Blackflies won’t like you, either.
We’ve simply got to go back to common sense instead of calling for the use of poisonous pesticides at every little problem. I hope they don’t use fleas as an excuse to destroy the building – that’s just foolish and ignorant.
I looked on Google street view; it doesn’t seem like a decrepit building at all. Pickle it.
I’d say that Eugene has an appetite for destruction….First JJ Newberry building and now the property behind it…I say that we make a park of these soon to be vacant lots and dedicate them in Eugenes honor….Something that our grandchildren can look at and remember that there once existed a leader of a town with a complete lack of vision with exception to turning vacant properties into dirt lots and fighting the queen of mean…Roxanne Q. Our hats are off to you Eugene!! Fare thee well and good luck in Houlton. I hear that there are many vacant buildings to destroy up in the county!!
Sorry you did not get your National park, please continue..
I don’t want a National Park. Never did…I personally do not care for Roxanne but I do respect her right a citizen and private land owner to do as she sees fit with her life and her land. Most folks in this town can’t seem to make that connection. It’s all black or white with most of the locals. All I want is a town government with vision and open minds so that the in-fighting and ridiculesness of which you speak can stop. Gene is an @$$ plain and simple and I am glad to see him leave. Let him focus on his anti-national park rhetoric on someone elses dime and someone elses doorstep. The Millinocket people deserve better than what they have been receiving for the past 12 years. We can hire a manger, they are a dime a dozen in this economy. And we can hire one wihout a hidden agenda!
No Park for you, please continue…
Record Fleas everywhere…Sell it for a dollar like they did the old Stearns High.
I believe the code enforcement officer recommended that it be torn down. It just sad that the people have allowed this town to decay to its present level.
“It just sad that the people have allowed this town to decay to its present level.” Its a very old building and needs to be torn down, nobody is going to invest in that building!! Would you??? I understand that you and mlktmaine do not like Eugene but your comments are completely ridicules, laughable and childish. Nice try…
The building stands empty for a reason just like many other buildings that were once businesses. There are not enough people in town to support business. Once a building stands empty long enough without heat it starts in a cycle of decay. You can repair some of these buildings, for what? To stand empty?
Well Yawden, some common sense! THANK YOU…
I lived in a tar paper shack years ago that was in better shape than that.
I would hope a little more will be done then to just flatten a building full of fleas, I would think fleas would escape and move on.
I’ve known a lot of people who have lived in the apartments upstairs in this building. I’ve been in all of the apartments up there, and they are just nasty… a lot had to do with the tenants wrecking the place. But i still have to agree, that this building is pretty much inhabitable. I dont know about the structure itself, but there’s not enough Mr. Clean in the world, to remove the years of scum and filth from those apartments. As soon as i opened the door to go up the stairs, all i could think was “typical cliche crack house” … and the owner was a perv. recording girls tanning….thats the legend anyways…
yeah … knock it down…it’d cost way more to fix it up than it would ever be worth unfortunately.. sad, buildings are dropping left and right in this town…
And the same goes for the council members…the focus needs to be on our town and it’s people. The north woods outside of our towns borders, owned by private land owners is none of our business. Get to work folks. What have you done for your constituents today folks?
Ok,another building coming down in Millinocket.more tax dollars lost and now they are tearing down the mill,sooner or later they will ask for a revaluation on the mill and it won’t be good for the tax base in Millinocket. Something needs to change