A historic caretaker’s cottage in Bar Harbor that was once a part of an oceanfront estate is in danger of being torn down despite MDI Hospital CEO Christina Maguire’s hopes to find someone who will take it and move it.
Design Review Board Vice Chair Erin Cough asked about not seeing that Wayman Lane cottage on the hospital’s site plan. The removal of the cottage on the hospital’s property is necessary for the hospital to go ahead with its expansion plans.
“That will eventually come down,” Maguire said.
“Are you offering it to anyone if they can move it?” Cough asked.
The hospital has offered the buildings set to be demolished to nonprofits and Island Housing Trust. One is encased in asbestos and there is a cost to move any structures slated for demolition.
“I hate it. I hate it, too. I hate demolishing those buildings. We’re offering it to anyone who wants one,” Maguire said.
It was a caretaker’s building for an estate that Cough, who is also the executive director of the Bar Harbor Historical Society said was a horse estate that extended to the waterfront. The building on the hospital campus is all that remains of the estate.
The building is not listed on the town’s “Appendix A,” which is the list of historic properties in the board’s overlay district.
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