On the edge

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

A building sitting along one of the prettiest - and priciest - downtown streets in Maine may be about to crumble to the ground, town officials warn.

So Camden selectmen have given the owner of 39 Main Street until spring to save it or lose it.

The two-story structure is unusual because it is one of few New England structures sitting on wooden stilts - 13 pilings - above a river in a downtown district.

But the piles, which are set on bedrock, are unstable so the building could be condemned at best and demolished at worst.

“The building could fall down,” said Selectwoman Alison McKellar. “It is continuing to shift. If the building falls, it falls into the Montgomery Dam pool and into the harbor.”

Camden’s claim to fame beyond the massive old double-masted wooden sailing schooners in its picturesque harbor is a gushing river that runs from the rear of its Main Street shops downhill in to the bay.

But the fast-flowing Megunticook River can be as foreboding as it is spellbinding.

The building sits right over it. Town Planner Jeremy Martin declared it dangerous and issued a violation notice to its owner four months ago.

The dam, meanwhile, is also allegedly compounding the erosion problems downtown, according to an advisory committee recommending its removal.

The river takes its name from the town's original designation by the Penobscot tribe that settled it thousands of years ago.

Contributor: Pen Bay Pilot