A new housing complex for Acadia National Park employees that has been under construction since 2024 will not be open this summer for seasonal staff.
Harden Farm, an apartment complex in Bar Harbor that currently holds eight one-bedroom units, is being renovated to add 56 beds for seasonal employees.
The eight existing apartments that have been at the site for years will again be open for employee use this summer, according to Perrin Doniger, spokesperson for Friends of Acadia, a local nonprofit that advocates for the park’s conservation.
The project is part of a broader push to address a yearslong workforce housing shortage on Mount Desert Island. Between federal funding and private donations, at least $33 million has been spent on constructing employee housing in recent years.
The park expects to connect new construction at Harden Farm, which was first developed in the 1960s, to Bar Harbor’s wastewater system this spring, though the complex will remain under construction through 2026, according to Amanda Pollock, spokesperson for Acadia National Park.
Contractors are now completing interior finishes to the first half of the Harden Farm units, which amounts to 28 bedrooms, Pollock said. In December 2025, the park service announced it had awarded two contracts for construction of the remaining 28 units.
Through donations from Friends of Acadia, the National Park Foundation — which helps preserve over 400 national park sites across the country — and federal funding, the park has added housing for 58 seasonal employees, Doniger said.
While those investments have provided several dozen new beds, the island’s housing crunch persists.
“There is a severe housing shortage in the communities surrounding Acadia National Park,” the National Park Service’s website says. “If the park cannot provide a bedroom for prospective seasonal employees, most individuals could not find a place to live within commuting distance to the park. More regularly, this is also the case with prospective permanent staff.”
The park, which does not provide housing for year-round staff — except on a temporary basis for new hires — does offer accommodations for its seasonal staff.
It was not clear Wednesday how many seasonal positions the park has filled for the upcoming 2026 season. Friends of Acadia this week directed questions about the park’s hiring process to Acadia officials, but the park hasn’t commented publicly on its seasonal hiring process since January 2025.
As of Wednesday, four seasonal positions for Acadia were posted on USAjobs.gov, including for large equipment operators and maintenance workers. In recent years, the park has only filled 120 seasonal positions — down from 160 in prior years.
The National Park Service is also working with Bar Harbor officials on a separate workforce housing project in Town Hill, a village in Bar Harbor. A 55-acre parcel of land, which was gifted to the park by John D. Rockefeller in 1960 but is outside its official boundary, could be the site of up to 60 workforce housing units.
The park and Bar Harbor officials are drawing up plans to transfer 40 acres of the Town Hill parcel to the town for affordable workforce housing, Pollock said. The park would retain 15 acres for its own employee housing, she added.
“Employee housing makes it possible for the National Park Service to recruit and retain the best and brightest rangers who work hard to provide essential visitor services and keep Acadia National Park open and accessible,” Pollock said.
Several housing projects championed by Friends of Acadia over the last few years have brought the group closer to its long-term goal of building 130 new beds for seasonal employees.
Dane Farm, an eight-bedroom Seal Harbor development completed in 2024, welcomed seasonal employees last summer. So did a renovated condominium building on Jordan River Road in Trenton, which offers six two-bedroom townhomes. Because of its proximity to the Acadia Gateway Center, Island Explorer bus drivers received first priority for the Trenton complex, Doniger said.
