Town cites local Brownfields successes: demolitions, abatement and a path to reuse

Presenters described recent local projects that used assessment and cleanup funds to abate hazardous building materials and clear blighted properties. Examples included a residential lot on Medway Road that was abated and demolished, a former bank building that burned and was subsequently put back into reuse, and Jim’s Dry Cleaners in downtown Millinocket, where assessments, abatement and demolition work helped clear long‑standing contamination risks.

Peter Jamieson emphasized how the projects have reduced safety and nuisance issues and enabled property transactions: “The Jim Dryden property was…sitting there for decades, and is now a clean, eventually sellable site,” he said. Speakers said the town funded sampling, abatement and demolition work in several cases at no direct cost to nonprofit reuse partners; those cleared parcels are being marketed to tenants and private buyers.