Maine’s Vestar Power was about to pull the plug on Aroostock Centre Mall when Dana Cassidy put together a deal to buy the half-million square foot property in Presque Isle, just miles from the border of Canada’s New Brunswick province.
“What I’m going to do is pay for it and I am going to bring it back,” the local developer told the Bangor Daily News. Aroostock Centre has had troubles from its birth. Shortly after opening in November of 1993, the US government announced it would be closing the region’s No. 1 employer, Loring Air Force Base in nearby Limestone. It was one of the largest bases of the US Air Force’s Strategic Air Command and Limestone’s population dropped from 10,000 to 2,000 when it shut down.
The mall lost $1M last year and Cassidy reported similar ongoing losses in paying for taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. His recent repaving of the parking lot is a sign that he intends to fight a lengthy battle to sustain the centre that’s anchored by JCPenney and Harbor Freight.
Just 16 tenants currently inhabit the property, a dangerously meagre number for a regional mall. Among the holdouts are Bath & Body Works, All-Star Gymnastics, and Ruby Tuesday.
Cassidy initially plans to invest close to $4M to add a trampoline park, a 24-hour gym and a 4,000sq ft laundromat to Aroostook Centre. He will also be adding more entrances to make access easier for customers.
The developer said he considered the mall to be one of four major landmarks in Presque Isle along with Northern Maine Community College, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and Presque Isle International Airport. Cassidy, who owns a shopping centre in neighbouring Somerset County and several residential properties in Presque Isle, is intent on keeping Aroostook Centre Mall alive.
