A building on Broadway in Bangor slated to be the new home of the International Cryptozoology Museum was accepted to the National Register of Historic Places last week.
Built in 1945, 490 Broadway became the 32nd individual property in Bangor to be added to the list, according to Michael Goebel-Bain, a National Register and survey coordinator with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
The white building, which features a prominent Art Deco-style window, sits on the corner of Broadway and Earle Avenue across the street from an Irving gas station and Circle K. The property is an example of Streamline Moderne architecture, a style of Art Deco that appeared in the 1930s that features curved edges and long horizontal lines.
The National Register of Historic Places, overseen by the National Park Service, is a list of more than 98,000 properties that have been deemed worthy of preservation. Qualified historic places are eligible for federal grants and tax incentives to help rehabilitate and maintain the site.
In Maine, there are around 1,475 individual properties and 190 historic districts on the list, Goebel-Bain said. About 10 to 15 new properties are added each year.
The last Bangor addition came in January 2023 when the Peirce Building at 29 Franklin St. was included in the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District.
The newly listed 490 Broadway initially served as a bus garage and terminal for Hasey’s Maine Stages from 1945 until 1953. It was later home to taxi businesses, a dry cleaner and a used car lot.
The property has sat empty since the Bangor Redemption Center, its last occupant, closed in 2018. A Skowhegan businessman looked to put a car wash at the site in 2021, but those plans never materialized after residents in the abutting neighborhood voiced concerns about a car wash driving heavy traffic into quiet residential roads.
In March 2023, Loren Coleman, director of the International Cryptozoology Museum, purchased the building to be the new home for the museum, which features artifacts on “cryptids,” like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, that he has collected over the years. Coleman nominated the property to be added to the register.
Coleman launched the International Cryptozoology Museum in 2003. The museum then expanded to a location on Congress Street in Portland, before settling in a site on Thompson’s Point in Portland in 2016.
A second location opened on Hammond Street in Bangor in 2021 and includes a rotation of artifacts as well as a gift shop and bookstore.
Coleman said in 2022 that he planned to move the museum out of Portland and consolidate all operations to the Broadway location. He didn’t respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Property owners interested in having their building added to the National Register of Historic Places must complete a National Register Eligibility Assessment Form and send it, along with photos of the building, to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
The State Review Board will then consider the nomination and can forwarded it to the National Park Service for final determination of whether the property is eligible for the National Register.
