A proposal to build the ‘world’s tallest flagpole’ looms over a small community in Maine – The Boston Globe

“I at all times inform them how lovely it’s right here,” stated Murphy, resting her hand on her Maine Coon cat, Child Basil, purring softly in her lap. “This isn’t a spot for shoppers. It’s a spot for artists and writers.”

However what would turn into of this picturesque group 5 hours north of Boston if a robust native household’s proposal to show a whole lot of acres of wilderness right into a billion-dollar patriotic theme park — full with a flagpole that, if constructed, would rival the peak of the third tallest constructing in America — strikes forward?

Murphy and the almost 500 residents of Columbia Falls have been grappling with that query for the reason that Flagpole of Freedom Park, a enterprise enterprise to “unite America,” was unveiled final yr.

Involved in regards to the scale of the plans, residents of this enclave are getting ready to hit pause on the attraction, arguably the biggest and most eccentric mission ever pitched for the Downeast area.

On Tuesday, residents will vote on whether or not to move a 180-day moratorium on all large-scale developments on the town, a transfer that might stall the record-setting flagpole plan and its surrounding facilities. Enacting the measure would purchase them time to weigh the financial boon the park may present in opposition to the disruptions it might carry to the scenic panorama.

The park is the fervour mission of the Worcester household, greatest recognized for its nonprofit Wreaths Throughout America, which locations garlands largely grown on their land in and round Columbia Falls at veterans’ graves nationwide each Christmas.

The mission has lagged, and the household stated Friday that it could return funds despatched by donors over the previous yr to kickstart development.

But when constructed, the Flagpole of Freedom Park would take the household’s mission to honor veterans to new heights. Its namesake flagpole would soar 1,461 ft excessive (precisely 1,776 ft above sea degree), and turn into the tallest on this planet by a number of hundred ft. It might fly an American flag the dimensions of one-and-a-half soccer fields.

The pole itself could be a multistory constructing topped by an commentary deck with views of Maine in all instructions.

The encircling park, as envisioned by the Worcesters, would characteristic theaters, eating places, a lodge, shops, mountain climbing trails, museum reveals, and ticketed rides and academic points of interest just like the “Halls of Historical past” and “Village of Previous Glory,” that inform the story of the nation’s wars. Guests could be ferried on gondolas criss-crossing above the bushes.

In an space free to the general public, “Remembrance Partitions” 9 miles lengthy would checklist the names of each US veteran who has died, an exhibit that will be up to date every year.

“This might be a spot that’s often known as probably the most patriotic place there may be,” Rob Worcester, the mission’s cofounder and managing director, stated in a promotional video final yr.

Critics have dismissed the Worcesters’ aspirations as fanciful and excessive. However for residents of the state’s poorest county, it’s a prospect that some say deserves critical consideration.

The median family revenue in Columbia Falls is roughly $47,000. Jobs are scarce, the closest hospital is half-an-hour away, and going out to dinner is a 45-minute drive in each instructions.

The area has lengthy struggled to draw staff, and out-of-state traders who flocked right here in the course of the pandemic have worsened an already devastating housing scarcity.

Nancy Bailey, who raised two youngsters in Columbia Falls, has seen the toll a scarcity of alternative has taken on her group. For a lot of, the one method to make a dwelling is to depart.

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“We want one thing right here — we desperately want one thing,” Bailey stated.

She stated she loves the realm’s evergreen vistas and brilliant stars as a lot as different residents, however welcoming a vacationer attraction of this measurement might assist the group keep afloat.

Plus, she trusts that Morrill Worcester, the household’s patriarch, has Columbia Falls’ greatest pursuits in thoughts.

“He’s a Columbia Falls man by means of and thru,” Bailey stated. “He needs the city to be taken care of.”

The household says the idea might create 5,000 jobs, which might make it one of many state’s largest employers. They’ve estimated it might appeal to 6 million guests a yr — 2 million greater than Acadia Nationwide Park — and enhance native infrastructure in want of repairs.

However, the pitch has been so much to swallow for Columbia Falls, whose enterprise group consists of farms; a diner; a normal retailer; a lobster lure producer; and Wild Blueberry Land, a blueberry-shaped store and museum.

“It’s simply too massive for the realm,” stated Dell Emerson, who has run Wild Blueberry Land, a roadside attraction, together with his spouse, Marie, for twenty years.

Emerson, born in Columbia Falls in 1935, has watched the realm flip from a bustling rural group to a sleepy city of largely retirees. Though he believes the flagpole park is “a good suggestion,” he’s uncertain his hometown is the precise match.

“I don’t assume the amenities that we’ve within the city might deal with an inflow of 5,000 individuals,” he stated.

These fears had been mirrored in an nameless survey that native officers requested residents of Columbia Falls and close by cities to take this month. Requested if they’d assist a moratorium on large-scale improvement tasks, greater than 80 % of the 193 respondents stated “Sure.”

Whereas individuals weren’t particularly requested in regards to the flagpole mission, many criticized it by identify.

“We don’t have the capability to assist such endeavors as a group,” one particular person stated. “Even a shopping center could be a stretch.”

Others frightened about obstructed views, or the disruption of the “small hometown really feel” and “pure magnificence” that drew them to the realm.

“It seems cash makes proper in Maine,” one other particular person wrote. “If somebody has just a little cash they will determine to break a city for all of the city’s individuals.”

One other dismissed the flagpole mission as “an enormous vacationer lure” that will “destroy” the “character of the city.”

The Worcesters have acknowledged issues about their plans.

“There’s lots of people that don’t need change,” Rob Worcester informed The Maine Monitor final Could. “However I feel that [Washington county is] economically struggling just a little bit and I feel we may help.”

A smaller however equally passionate group of survey respondents appeared to agree with that sentiment, and had been in favor of letting the mission — and others prefer it — transfer forward.

“It is not going to simply line the homeowners’ pockets, it should actually enhance all native enterprise visitors,” one proponent wrote. “Being one of many poorest counties in Maine, we might definitely use an attraction for vacationer cash.”

One other Columbia Falls resident derided a moratorium as “an evasive tactic” standing in the way in which of progress. Their primary concern? “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”

The mission has been controversial from the beginning. It even got here up throughout final yr’s state Senate race. Requested for his or her opinions on it throughout a debate, candidates on either side expressed skepticism.

Marianne Moore, a Republican who in the end gained the race, stated it “seems superior.” However she additionally questioned if it was “going to fly” in Washington County.

Her opponent, Democrat Jonathan Goble, had extra disparaging phrases, casting doubt on how massive of a draw it could be.

“What number of instances do individuals go to see the world’s largest pig?” he stated.

No matter the place residents stand, city officers, who’re paid a small stipend and serve half time, have scrambled to wrap their heads across the infrastructure investments the mission would require, in addition to how visitors, leisure areas, and pure sources could be affected.

It has prompted them “to evaluate what instruments the city has in its toolbox to mitigate the impacts of business improvement,” stated Aga Dixon, a lawyer and land-use planner the city retained to handle the park proposal.

The city has already spent almost $40,000 in consulting charges linked to the mission. The Worcesters have lined $30,000 of these prices.

A lot of the land the place the park could be constructed sits on unorganized territory and falls underneath the purview of the state Land Use Planning Fee. The Worcesters need the city to annex it, which might velocity up allowing and guarantee taxes from the park go to the city. Residents would get a vote on that, as effectively.

If a moratorium is handed, it wouldn’t cease the mission in its tracks. Whereas a lawyer for the household stated in December that it “may very well be devastating” as a result of it would scare off potential traders, members of the family have prompt they’d construct the park with or with out the city’s backing.

“If a moratorium is what nearly all of residents and municipal officers wish to occur in Columbia Falls, that’s as much as the individuals of Columbia Falls,” Rob Worcester stated in October. “Both the state or one other municipality will reap the social, tax, and financial advantages ought to Columbia Falls select to not assist the annexation.”

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Nonetheless, getting assist from the group would clean the trail to opening.

The Worcesters initially deliberate to boost funds on-line from hundreds of particular person “founders,” in addition to from massive company sponsors, and break floor on July 4 this yr. The goal was to open to the general public in 2026, on the nation’s 250th birthday.

In an announcement, cofounder Mike Worcester stated the household was “within the strategy of returning” donors’ cash given the delays, however “stay dedicated to transferring this mission ahead.” A fund-raising web page on the mission’s web site, which supplied perks to those that pledged to make month-to-month contributions, is now not practical. The household has not stated how a lot cash they’ve raised or plan to spend on the mission themselves.

They had been as soon as so assured in regards to the mission’s future that they constructed dozens of cabins on a posh overlooking the deliberate development web site, known as Flagpole View Cabins. (Worcester Holdings was issued violations for doing so with out correct permits.)

After final yr’s preliminary burst of publicity — which attracted consideration from Fox Information and different media retailers and included assist from former presidential candidate Ben Carson — Columbia Falls residents say the Worcesters have gone largely silent.

Within the assertion Friday, the household stated it was reconsidering its method to the park, however insisted it could not run the park as a nonprofit. Mike Worcester stated that whereas the household doesn’t plan to totally go that route, it has been working with veterans teams “to make our enterprise mannequin as inclusive as doable to obtain their endorsement and assist.”

For now, Columbia Falls appears poised to purchase itself a while, at a second when traders have pitched massive concepts for the Downeast area — among the many final undeveloped sections close to the coast within the US — together with for photo voltaic panels, fish farms, RV parks, even aerospace ventures.

“Traditionally, the Downeast area has not been focused for enormous improvement, however that’s altering,” stated Dixon. “It’s a little bit of a wake-up name for these small communities.”

Spencer Buell may be reached at spencer.buell@globe.com. Observe him on Twitter @SpencerBuell.