Bangor still hasn’t resumed construction on downtown’s Pickering Square, nearly a month after the city said landscaping crews would return to finish the project.
The site, located between the Pickering Square parking garage and the Bangor Area Transit Center, was torn up last summer and has sat unfinished for months.
The dirt-filled space surrounded by chain-link fencing is “just more of an eyesore — it’s not appealing,” said Gabi Ingersoll, a barista at Chimera Coffee on Broad Street. Ingersoll walks past the site frequently after parking in the garage when coming into work.
The delay is the third since construction began in July 2024 with plans to finish by Halloween that year. The vacant site is ugly and disruptive, according to local business owners and employees, who also expressed frustration with the city’s lack of progress.
In May the city said that crews from Street’s Landscape & Lawn Care in Old Town would return in the first week of June, with the work expected to wrap up in mid-July. Delays in getting materials have hindered progress since work began.
The city declined to give a definitive date when construction would resume, but “our understanding is that the work will start in the coming days,” spokesperson David Warren said.
The spot downtown has been a site of change in recent years even before the grassy area was torn up, such as when the city opened the bus station in 2022. In the past, the area had been used for markets, live music events and other community gatherings.
“The small events bring people to town,” said James Puiia, owner of The New Waverly bar on Merchants Plaza. Puiia said he was unhappy with how the space had been utilized and that the “city economic and engineering [departments] should get going.”
“It’ll never be what it once was,” he said.
Plans for the new iteration of the site include seating, art displays, and an open lawn for community events, but it’s unclear now when the space will become usable to the public.
John Dobbs, who owns Paddy Murphy’s on Main Street, said that while he hasn’t heard anything from customers about the construction, he too has been displeased with the timeline.
“I feel disappointed it’s taken as long as it’s taken,” Dobbs said. “However, I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.”
“It’ll be done when it’s done,” he added.
