WATERVILLE — Silver Street Tavern owner Charlie Giguere heard the presentation Tuesday from officials building a new $26 million hotel on Main Street downtown and said he’s not worried about construction affecting his restaurant, which has outdoor dining.

“I think it’s great, having somebody spend $26 million across the street from me,” Giguere said. “I think it’s wonderful for the city. I’ve got no complaints and no reservations, all the way to two-way traffic. I’m on board with this project.”

Ames Cyrway, co-owner of Framemakers on Maine Street, left, and Malcolm Porter, owner of the Enchanted Herbs and Teas, during a hotel construction informational meeting Tuesday at the Proper Pig in downtown Waterville. Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans/

Giguere was among about two dozen neighbors and abutters to the Lockwood Hotel construction site invited Tuesday to the Proper Pig Restaurant downtown to hear about early construction activities, express any concerns and ask questions.

Presenters at the informal event were Paul Ureneck, director of commercial real estate for Elm City LLC, an affiliate of Colby College, which is building the hotel; Scott Cristina, senior superintendent for Landry/French Construction, the project’s general contractor; Derek Albert, Landry/French project executive; and Brian Clark, Colby’s vice president of planning. Landry/French built Colby’s $25.5 million mixed-use residential complex, the Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons, which opened last year at 150 Main St.

“We put the same team together for this project,” Ureneck said.

Before construction started on the Alfond Commons, Ureneck and the team held a similar meeting for abutters and neighbors of the project, and they continued such meetings during construction. He said many towns and cities require in their ordinances that such meetings be held, though Waterville does not have such a requirement.

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“However, we have found them to be extremely beneficial,” Ureneck said. “Communication is the name of the game.”

He also said people wanting to be on an email list to receive updates on what is happening during the construction may go to www.colby.edu/downtown/lockwood/ and their names will be added to the list.

The goal is to complete the 47,692-square-foot, 53-room hotel with a restaurant in October next year, according to Ureneck. Maine Drilling & Blasting, of Gardiner, will show up on site in the next day or so, as the blasting of ledge is expected to start Thursday, according to Ureneck. McGee Construction, of West Gardiner, already has moved equipment to the site and will start removing foundations that were left there to help hold up Main Street, he said. Blasting is not expected to be disruptive.

“You hear a little puff and a mat comes up a foot, hopefully,” Ureneck said.

“Once we remove those foundations, the new hotel will actually be set back farther than the Camden National Bank was set back,” he said. “We did that to give the building a little more sidewalk expanse, exposure.”

Foundations will be removed by mid-August, to prepare for steel and planks to be erected in early October.

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The hotel will be built on the site of the former bank and Levine’s clothing store. The bank moved into the Alfond Commons father north on Main Street.

Jersey barriers will be placed along Main Street at the site because of the depth of the hole where construction is taking place, according to Ureneck. Contractors will park in the former bank drive-thru ATM off Front Street, he said.

Paul Ureneck, director of commercial real estate at Colby College, talks to business owners with stores and space near the new Colby hotel construction site Tuesday about upcoming construction and the impact it will have on the downtown area during an informational meeting at The Proper Pig in downtown Waterville. Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans

Ames Cyrway, who owns The Framemakers on Main Street with her husband, Brian Vigue, asked whether parking spots in front of her business would be displaced during construction, as her back entrance off The Concourse is inappropriate for handicapped parking for her clients.

“That’s a really big concern, especially with our business bringing in large pieces of art,” she said.

“We should not be affecting any of those spaces like in front of your store,” Ureneck said.

Colby is leasing parking spaces from the city in the city-owned lot off Front Street, and about 30 of those will be used for construction staging, according to Clark.

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Ureneck said the team does not expect there will be parking problems created by people working at the site, but he urged anyone with a concern or problem to call him, Cristina or Albert.

“Do not hesitate, and we’ll be all over them,” he said.

Named for the former Lockwood textile mill complex to its south on Water Street, the hotel will consist of four stories. There will be entrances on both Main and Front streets, and the restaurant and bar will be on the first floor and open to hotel guests and the public.

The architecture, engineering and interior design firm Baskervill designed the hotel, which is expected to employ about 60 people when it is completed, according to Clark. Both the restaurant, to be named “Front and Main,” and bar will be managed by Charlestowne Hotels.

The hotel will have a limestone facade and include a terraced patio and lawn on the south end of the building, where the former Levine’s was located.

That southernmost half of the hotel will have a basement where a cooler, offices and mechanical, laundry and break rooms will be and where most of the blasting will happen, Ureneck said.

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Albert said the intent is to be a good neighbor.

“This plan is pretty straightforward as far as the site traffic — a little less complex than dealing with an active Concourse,” he said, referring to construction on the Alfond Commons. “We really do want to be your partner here. We don’t want to be the bad guy. We want to be your partner.”

Derek Albert, senior project manager for Landry/French Construction, hands out construction site maps Tuesday to local business owners during an informational meeting on the construction of the new Colby hotel at the Proper Pig in downtown Waterville. Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans

Cyrway asked if blasting will affect her business.

“You shouldn’t have any issues,” Albert said. “We’ll probably do two blasts and maybe three a day.”

He said the blasts would occur between 10 a.m. and 2 or 3 p.m. and three whistles will be blown beforehand to notify people. One whistle will be a 5-minute warning, the next, a one minute warning, and the third, an all-clear whistle, and traffic will be stopped, according to Albert.

“The first blast is scheduled for Thursday, we we’re going to get right into it,” Cristina added.

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Albert said about 20 or 25 people will work at the site for the next couple of months and more will arrive when the steel and planks arrive. Ureneck said that, as was the case with the Alfond Commons construction, planks are pre-engineered and a higher quality of product. The planks are dropped on as the steel goes up, he said.

“The structure of the building goes up very, very quickly.”

Giguere joked about dust from blasting blowing toward his restaurant’s outdoor dining. Ureneck assured him water control will be used to keep the dust down during construction.

“We’re just praying for a west wind,” Giguere said.

Others attending the meeting included property owner Sidney Geller; property manager Bruce Fowler; GHM Insurance Agency owner Bill Mitchell, who also is part-owner of the Proper Pig; and John Fortier, owner of State Farm Insurance.


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