BANGOR, Maine — Downtown Bangor’s newest business opens its doors to the public this weekend as it prepares for what its owner hopes will be a busy debut season.
Explore Bangor, which set up shop in the former Metropolitan Soul storefront at 25 Hammond St., will hold its soft opening on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to owner Jamie McDonough. The shop will offer bicycle, kayak and paddleboard rentals, as well as guided tours of the area.
“I think it’s going to be rainy, so we may not have any bikes going out Saturday,” McDonough said Thursday. Still, she said she looks forward to showing off her new space.
When the weather improves, McDonough will start running guided group tours of the area. For example, she wants one tour to involve riding bikes to Veazie, where the group would put kayaks in the water and paddle downstream to the Bangor Waterfront. Other tours could bring paddlers up the Kenduskeag Stream.
“One thing we’ll be very careful about is monitoring and scheduling around the tides,” to prevent paddling from becoming too difficult for novices, McDonough said.
McDonough, an experienced whitewater kayaker, is working to earn her Maine Guide sea-kayaking license, so she can lead the tours. She expects to have additional guides to help her once business picks up.
She’s working with the city to plan a storage facility along the waterfront for boats, so they don’t need to be hauled from the shop to the waterfront for every rental.
Bike rentals will be less restricted, but McDonough will have recommendations for where people can take their bikes to see the sights. One recommendation is a ride down Bangor’s waterfront, then across the Penobscot River to Brewer’s new waterfront path.
McDonough has spent the past several months renovating the storefront — tearing down plaster to expose the brick walls, refinishing the floors and tearing out walls to open up the space.
In winter, she plans to offer cross-country skis for people who want to continue to get outside year-round.
The shop also sells Maine-made crafts and jewelry, as well as socks from her family’s business.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.