Every city or town, no matter the size, has that one place or street that causes some problems. Portland has Grant Street. Westbrook has… well, the entire city of Westbrook. I have been told by a current resident of the area that Bath and its Hyde Park area can be problematic. Even Brunswick has its own special area of Maine and Pleasant streets.

Yet again we hear about criminal activity and its ties to the area around the Maine Street and Pleasant Street intersection. At least in this case of the stabbing on Sunday, it seems that the initial crimes took place elsewhere before the perforated person ended up at the land of the Super Big Gulp.

Being the ending location for the stabbing only highlights the ties that this one corner has to behavior that does not fit within the normative bounds of most residents of town. That the Buckeye victim is not working with the police department also leads one to ask what the possible reason could be for the “targeted attack.”

Remember, for a moment, some of what has gone on at this location. There was the young man who recently fled the establishment with a taquito in one hand and freedom in the other. Unfortunately, his flight of fancy was short lived and a painful reminder that while crime can satiate one’s hunger for action, it does not often pay in the end. There have been other assaults of individuals as well. Overall, it is an area that many in town will skip right by as they travel Maine Street, especially at night.

Over the years this one particular area of Maine Street has been a blight on an otherwise beautiful downtown. As Brunswick has sought to make its classic thoroughfare a destination of sorts, there exists one lone hold out to an environ better suited for Cook’s Corner or outer Pleasant Street. Certainly it is not part of the atmosphere of the boutique restaurants and small scale shops that make up the Twelve Rod Road.

In the meantime, Brunswick has always been willing to partake in a little horse trading. I propose that the town offer up to the owners of the 7-Eleven on Maine Street a trade. In exchange for their building on the corner of Pleasant Street and Maine Street the town give them the building on the corner of Pleasant Street and Mill Street.

The citizenry could benefit by trading a building that is already on the market for the potential of a small park or parking lot where aberrant behavior would stick out plainly to all that pass. 7-Eleven would benefit from a larger store and prime location. Overall it may be beneficial to the people of Brunswick to have the front doors of the 7-Eleven under the ever watchful eye of the Brunswick Police Department.

The PD have spent enough time at 7-Eleven recently, now they could be neighbors. A win-win for everyone.

That’s my two cents …

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Jonathan Crimmins lives in Brunswick and can be reached at j_ [email protected].