BATH

The Bath Planning Board has recommended to the Bath City Council Maine Maritime Museum’s request for an amendment to the land use code map. The amendment rezones two residential lots located in the middle of the museum’s campus for museum-related purposes. The board approved the request at a meeting earlier this month.

The amendment rezones two residential lots located in the middle of the museum’s campus for museum-related purposes. The board approved the request at a meeting earlier this month.

“These are parcels that are surrounded entirely by museum property,” said Maine Maritime Museum Director Amy Lent. “They’ve been acquired over the past couple of years, and they are going to be part of a new redevelopment project that the museum is working on for the whole front parking area of the museum front entrance.”

According to Lent, the purpose of the project is “to make it more handicapped accessible, create more open space, pull the parking back from the water so that there’s less environmental impact of our parking on the river, create better educational spaces outside of the museum, and integrate two parking areas with each other.”

The overhaul of the front of the museum’s campus is being called “First Impressions” by the museum. A major part of the plan is to integrate the museum’s two parking lots — the main lot in front of the museum entrance, and a separate dirt lot to the side that serves as employee and overflow parking. Currently, the two lots are separated by the residential lots in the middle of the campus.

“Right now they’re not contiguous, and cars have to go out onto Washington Street to get from one parking lot to the other parking lot,” said Lent.

The recommended zoning change would allow the museum to connect the two parking lots as they renovate the campus. The museum is working with Richardson and Associates of Saco to plan the redesign. Lent told The Times Record that construction could take place over a two-year period to minimize the impact on visitors.

With the planning board’s recommendation, the land use amendment will now go before the city council for approval.

NOTE: This story has been updated to
clarify that the Planning Board recommended to the City Council
Maine Maritime Museum’s request for an amendment to the land use code
map, as opposed to the planning board granting the museum’s
request.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

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