Penobscot County commissioners have no plans yet for the downtown Bangor land under the former YMCA building, which they began demolishing last week.
Demolition on the 1.6-acre plot at the corner Hammond and Court streets started March 4 and is expected to take multiple weeks. The gym and multiple other walls were demolished as of Tuesday afternoon.
Demolishing the building creates a clean slate and hopefully makes the site more attractive for whoever ends up developing the space, Commissioner Dave Marshall said. Marshall was not on the board when the county bought the more than 50,000-square-foot building for $825,000 in 2017, a day after the city of Bangor condemned the building.
The condition of the building made it clear that it needed to come down, Marshall said. There were bricks falling off, it had asbestos and taking care of a closed building is expensive, Commissioner Andre Cushing said.
The county will likely collaborate with the city of Bangor to figure out what works best for the area, Marshall said. Talking to people about what they think will best serve the community is an important step, he said.
“The county has been reaching out to the communities, to [ask], ‘What can we do to help you better serve your people? How can the county commissioners assist in that?,’” Marshall said. “With that, beginning this dialogue so I certainly want to reach out to other interested parties to see what their recommendations are.”
There’s a need for housing and mental health facilities, and a mixed development with residential and commercial buildings is possible, he said.
The county has not yet reached out to developers, so it is hard to assess what may be built, Cushing said.
After the YMCA consolidated into one building in 2008, multiple businesses occupied the space, including a church and martial arts studio. A new jail and apartments are among things previously proposed for the site.
A new jail is no longer a possibility at the site, commissioners said. Community feedback made it clear that residents do not want a multistory correctional facility at the site, Cushing said.
The land is zoned from government and institutional, so developers looking to open a business or build apartments will need a zoning change approved by the Bangor Planning Board.
“We had to do something,” Marshall said. “I think we did what was appropriate, and now whoever comes in, for whatever purpose, they’ve got a clean site to build that. So it really makes it a lot easier, for whatever purpose we decide upon, the site is ready, and that is a good thing.”
