KITTERY POINT — Looking out from a wooden bench in the front lawn of Sam Reid’s summer home, past the boats that pepper Pepperrell Cove, the Wood Island Life Saving Station probably looks no different than it did a century ago when civil servants watched and waited for ships in distress near Portsmouth Harbor.

Take a five-minute ride in Reid’s Boston Whaler and the view up close tells a different story.

The wooden doors to the room where the life-saving boats were stored are gone, the floor has caved in and part of the roof looks on the verge of collapsing.

Obscured by sumac trees, a warning sign hanging from the shingled wall makes its point four times over: “Danger. Hazardous Area. No Trespassing. Keep Out.”

About 850 residents of Kittery recently signed petitions attempting to prevent the town from demolishing the building and to transfer ownership to the Wood Island Life Saving Station Association, a nonprofit group formed by Reid in 2011 in hopes of restoring the building and turning it into a museum.

Last month, the group submitted those petitions to the town in an effort to force a special election on the proposal.

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Last week, the Town Council decided against holding the election on the premise that a private sale is prohibited by a deed on the property dating back to when the federal government turned it over to the town.

Still, the signatures spoke to at least some councilors, who had favored demolishing the building and letting the island return to its natural state.

“There is some support here,” said Jeff Pelletier, vice chairman of the council and a member of the town’s Wood Island Advisory Committee.

The council is now considering holding a nonbinding referendum in November to gauge the entire town’s desire to see the building restored.

Although Reid doesn’t agree that the petitions are unlawful, he said the council’s discussion about a referendum was promising.

“That’s a sea change,” he said. Still, he wants to make sure it wasn’t just talk.

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“What we would like to see are some concrete steps,” said Reid. If none are taken, he said, the group plans to “review our options,” including legal action.

In Pelletier’s opinion, the next step should be to find out from the Planning Board what construction could be allowed on the building, considering that Wood Island is subject to conservation, floodplain and shoreland resource restrictions.

“There’s no guarantee anything can be done on this island,” he said.

Pelletier believes discussing who should do what to the building “is the cart before the horse.”

Reid, on the other hand, would like his group and the town to come together about what they want to happen, then figure out how.

“What we should be talking about is the bigger picture,” he said.

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Therein lies what Pelletier described as the philosophical difference of opinion between the town and Reid’s group. And there are more of them.

The association has proposed raising money to restore the building and turn it into a museum with signs that tell its history. It would also like there to be a dock on the island to make it more accessible.

And if the group is willing to put up the money, it should have a say in what happens there, Reid said.

Pelletier doesn’t want a museum, which he believes would open up the island to vandalism, or a dock, which would draw more visitors, creating wear and tear on the land and a liability for the town.

“I think what most people want is to look out their window, whether it’s their car window or living room window or off the side of their boat, and see the iconic seascape of the lifesaving station,” he said.

He would accept a donation from the association to restore the building for that purpose, but doesn’t want the town to give up control of the island.

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“A gift is not, ‘I’ll do this for you, but you’ve got to give me this,'” Pelletier said.

He said the Wood Island Advisory Committee recommended demolishing the building because it was a hazard and there wasn’t apparent public support to pay for its restoration and maintenance. Now that residents have spoken up in favor of that, he said, he’s willing to see if they’ll pay for it.

“Is your wallet where your mouth is?” he said.

But Reid’s group has already said it would take care of the money. It already has $100,000 in pledges and there isn’t even a project. Reid said the group is willing to make concessions, like not having the dock. He believes the town’s problem is that it doesn’t trust the group to do what it says it will, to keep it open to the public, to have control.

Pelletier said that’s one thing he could agree on.

“There is a deficit of trust there, and that has only deepened,” he said, citing the petition drive as an attempt to circumvent the council.

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According to Reid, that was the point — to let the people speak for what they want.

“It’s obvious the citizens of Kittery want this building,” he said.

But as long as nothing happens, the building will continue to deteriorate. That’s the other thing they can agree on.

“Obviously, every day that goes by is not good for a wooden building on a small island off the coast of Maine,” Reid said.

Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at: 791-6364 or at

lbridgers@pressherald.com


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