Acadia National Park breaks ground on $33M maintenance facility

Acadia National Park broke ground on a 32,000-square-foot maintenance facility that will include with shops, equipment storage, meeting rooms and offices. 

The $33 million project, funded by the Great American Outdoors Act, will demolish more than 20,000 square feet of unsafe park structures and eliminate $4.4 million of deferred maintenance and repairs.

“This moment is nearly 20 years in the making — and it’s hard to believe it’s finally here,” said Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider. “We are all eager to see this facility come to life over the next two years. It will allow us to be better stewards of Acadia’s diverse built environment: ranging from our historic carriage roads to our visitor centers, and everything in between.”

The groundbreaking was attended by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau.

“The recent record visitation has taken a toll and led to increasing maintenance needs and demands on staff at national parks across the country,” Pingree and King said in a joint statement.

Critical infrastructure improvements at Acadia haven’t received the attention for more than two decades, a result of inadequate funding that has left staff with insufficient facilities, said Beaudreau. 

The new, year-round maintenance facility will provide ample parking, new roads, spacious storage and upgraded utilities. 

“This new investment will also help support more than 425 jobs and contribute $92 million to the nation’s economy,” said Beaudreau.

Nickerson & O’Day Inc., a Brewer-based contractor, was awarded the job, with project completion expected in the fall of 2024.  

Acadia’s maintenance team work includes preserving roads and trail, conserving historic carriage roads and stone bridges, keeping visitor centers clean and operational, and managing construction projects.

The old maintenance buildings were structurally unsound, undersized and inadequate for the workload, particularly given the considerable growth of the park’s staff, operations and visitation since the facility was built in the 1960s. 

The new maintenance operations complex will be built at Acadia’s McFarland Hill headquarters on around 10 acres.