HOULTON, Maine — At the height of World War II, Houlton’s airport was buzzing with activity both on and off the ground. Locals assisted the ground crew in various jobs and business was booming.
Welcome the birth of the Houlton International building. Once used as a hangar to house the planes from the war, this building evolved into a manufacturing plant that continued to thrive right up to 2004. Since then, its been the hope of the Shiretown Development Corporation — who bought out the lease from the town of Houlton — to use the building to attract big business and valuable jobs.
That dream has remained grounded and for the past several months, the SDC has been struggling to figure out what they should do next. Environmental concerns have been raised and the question of whether to scrap the building and sell its steel has been suggested, but all those issues will still come at a cost to the economic development corporation and their fund balance is decreasing by the day.
The Houlton International building is more than 60,000 square feet in size. Some interest has been shown, according to town officials, but no one has been willing to take on the mammoth-sized project to retrofit the structure. Some say the setup cost alone is scaring away buyers.
“We’ve had a few leads, but nothing that has really played out because of the vastness of the building and having to heat it and occupy and get their equipment protected and safe,” explained Wade Hanson, code enforcement officer for the town of Houlton. “It’s a pretty tough sell. You have to have somebody looking for a specific sized building in order to fill it and make it a viable entity. It would also have to have all new electrical to everything, water and sewer.”
Hanson said as far as renovations are concerned, if someone wanted to move right in they could, but those few items would have to be addressed first and that equals a large expense. Hanson said there are an unlimited number of things that the building could be used for, but due to its outdated utilities, the building remains bare, which is costing the SDC thousands of dollars on insurance payments alone each month.
At earlier SDC meetings, the town manager has made a number of suggestions, which include demolishing the building and making a profit from the scrap steel. However, upon further investigations, it was discovered that asbestos used on piping would have to be removed by a licensed abatement contractor, which has been estimated to cost more than $50,000 to do.
Hanson said if the building was sold as is, and the asbestos left in its current condition, it would not be a hazard to anyone.
“There is siding located on the inside of the hangar, which has asbestos paint on it,” explained Hanson. “It would not become an issue as it is right now, but when they start doing renovations, then they would have to address the asbestos that would be involved in the renovation that they’re going to do. In the state that it’s in right now, there’s no hazard at all to anyone.
“The same case as with the piping,” he explained. “As long as it’s intact, it is fine. If they start doing renovations and working around it then it would need to be removed by a licensed abatement contractor.”
One local businessman has shown a keen interest in purchasing the building and some SDC board directors are suggesting that the board just cut its losses and get rid of the building.
Currently, there is $33,547 in the SDC fund. The Houlton International Building has been assessed at a value of $244,100 and the land is valued at $25,600.
Welcome the birth of the Houlton International building. Once used as a hangar to house the planes from the war, this building evolved into a manufacturing plant that continued to thrive right up to 2004. Since then, its been the hope of the Shiretown Development Corporation — who bought out the lease from the town of Houlton — to use the building to attract big business and valuable jobs.
That dream has remained grounded and for the past several months, the SDC has been struggling to figure out what they should do next. Environmental concerns have been raised and the question of whether to scrap the building and sell its steel has been suggested, but all those issues will still come at a cost to the economic development corporation and their fund balance is decreasing by the day.
The Houlton International building is more than 60,000 square feet in size. Some interest has been shown, according to town officials, but no one has been willing to take on the mammoth-sized project to retrofit the structure. Some say the setup cost alone is scaring away buyers.
“We’ve had a few leads, but nothing that has really played out because of the vastness of the building and having to heat it and occupy and get their equipment protected and safe,” explained Wade Hanson, code enforcement officer for the town of Houlton. “It’s a pretty tough sell. You have to have somebody looking for a specific sized building in order to fill it and make it a viable entity. It would also have to have all new electrical to everything, water and sewer.”
Hanson said as far as renovations are concerned, if someone wanted to move right in they could, but those few items would have to be addressed first and that equals a large expense. Hanson said there are an unlimited number of things that the building could be used for, but due to its outdated utilities, the building remains bare, which is costing the SDC thousands of dollars on insurance payments alone each month.
At earlier SDC meetings, the town manager has made a number of suggestions, which include demolishing the building and making a profit from the scrap steel. However, upon further investigations, it was discovered that asbestos used on piping would have to be removed by a licensed abatement contractor, which has been estimated to cost more than $50,000 to do.
Hanson said if the building was sold as is, and the asbestos left in its current condition, it would not be a hazard to anyone.
“There is siding located on the inside of the hangar, which has asbestos paint on it,” explained Hanson. “It would not become an issue as it is right now, but when they start doing renovations, then they would have to address the asbestos that would be involved in the renovation that they’re going to do. In the state that it’s in right now, there’s no hazard at all to anyone.
“The same case as with the piping,” he explained. “As long as it’s intact, it is fine. If they start doing renovations and working around it then it would need to be removed by a licensed abatement contractor.”
One local businessman has shown a keen interest in purchasing the building and some SDC board directors are suggesting that the board just cut its losses and get rid of the building.
Currently, there is $33,547 in the SDC fund. The Houlton International Building has been assessed at a value of $244,100 and the land is valued at $25,600.
