BUCKSPORT — A Maine man played a lament on his bagpipes as a smokestack that symbolized a former paper mill came crashing down.

Hundreds watched as the 350-foot stack at the former Verso Paper Mill tumbled down in a flash Tuesday at a site that will one day become home to a salmon farm and Maine Maritime center. Local residents hope the new development will offset the closing of the mill and loss of 570 jobs.

A smoke stack at the former Verso paper mill in Bucksport crashes toward the ground on Tuesday. Image from Bucksport Police Department Facebook page

The Bucksport Police Department posted a video of the demolition that can be viewed on its Facebook page.

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Friends at Fort Knox across the river even opened the park up so that members of the public could come in for free and get a better view of the demolition.

Former mill worker Walter Browning said it was a “sad feeling.” Seventy-year-old Ernie Smith played a song called “Papermakers Lament” on his pipes.

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