ROCKLAND, Maine — The city is considering redesigning the public landing that greets ocean visitors and is a favorite spot for locals to view the harbor.
Consultants hired by the city made a presentation Tuesday night on plans that would include replacing the bridge pier with a much wider one and possibly moving the harbormaster building.
The study for the public landing project is being paid for with a $15,000 grant from the Maine Coastal Programs and a $5,000 match from the city. No cost estimate for the project itself has been developed, but consultant Regina Leonard of Milone and MacBroom said preliminary costs would be available for the city council’s June 13 meeting.
The proposal calls for making the public landing a community destination and attraction with lighting, seating, covered areas and a site for providing information to tourists, according to the consultant’s plan.
City officials are considering a 40-foot wide bridge pier and adding fill to level the grade on the land where the bridge pier, parking lot and boardwalk converge.
They also discussed the fate of the harbormaster office building.
Rockland Main Street Executive Director Gordon Page said the building should be preserved at all costs, even if it needs to be picked up and relocated.
The structure was built in the 1930s and built originally for the Rockland Yacht Club, which continues to use it for meetings.
Former Mayor Frank Isganitis said a condition survey of the building should be done first to determine whether it is worth investing the money.
Leonard said there have been discussions about whether the building should be torn down or preserved but that relocating it farther back from the seawall will be studied.
The city also has considered a redesign of the adjacent Harbor Park for the past several years, but those plans have not gone beyond the drawing board. Assistant City Manager Audra Caler-Bell said earlier this week that there are more grant opportunities for projects tied to marine uses, such as the public landing and less for a park redesign.