🔒Camden’s small-business resurgence breathes new life to familiar locations

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When the site of Cappy's Chowder House, a downtown mainstay since the 1970s at 1 Main St., became available for lease earlier this year, Sea Dog Brewing Co. jumped at the opportunity to stake a claim.

For Sea Dog, the new location was a long time coming.

“We're thrilled to be returning to Camden,” says Sea Dog's operations manager, Jim Bunting. “We always wanted to come back. But it required an amazing location. This being on the harbor and being at the center of Camden, those were powerful elements that we appreciate. Our pubs always have an outdoor element — being the 'sea dog,' being on the water. That happened with this location.”

Sea Dog is part of a small-business resurgence in Camden. Throughout town, businesses are gearing up for the busy summer season. In addition to Sea Dog, there are startups, relocated businesses and new owners of existing businesses.

Across the harbor from Main Street, in its first full year in operation, Lyman-Morse at Wayfarer facility has added a restaurant, an outboard engine shop, canvas shop, a brokerage and renovated work and paint bays. It is generating excitement around the harbor by drawing boaters and instituting a new regatta, the Camden Classics Cup, which will be July 28-30.

The former Wayfayer Marine site was acquired last year by Thomaston-based Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding Co.

“The marina is full this year and I think that's earlier than last year,” says President Drew Lyman. “This is one of the best harbors on the East Coast, and to be front and center here is huge for us. We've got a lot of boat owners who traditionally store their boats in Thomaston and are excited about having a slip in Camden.”

For the Rhumb Line restaurant, Lyman teamed up with Chef Scott Yakovenko, who owns the Slipway restaurant in Thomaston. The restaurant, which will serve modern American seafood dishes, will have both indoor and outdoor seating.

“That's creating a lot of energy and a good vibe,” says Lyman.

Revamping old spaces

Ben Curtis, a Los Angeles native with experience in bar management, opened the Fireside in early June, at 7 Public Landing. It is the site of the former Seabright pizzeria, so Curtis resuscitated the custom-made, wood-fire oven that was in place and came up with a menu that includes not only pizza but all kinds of wood-fire cuisine, from lasagna to tapas. He spent the past winter renovating the space, painting and adding new décor.

“We removed the big booths, which were taking up lot of space. And we removed other things, like the armoire. Why was there an armoire in a restaurant?” Curtis wonders. “The idea is to have clean, open, comfortable spaces. Proper lighting was critical to the openness and feeling in here. And the wood-fire oven is the centerpiece.”

Curtis arrived in the area two years ago thanks to his mother, who owns the retail store Leslie Curtis Designs, which is in the same building as Fireside.

Fireside is next to another new business, the three-story boutique hotel 16 Bay View. Owner/developers Marianne and Stuart Smith, who also own the Lord Camden Inn in Camden, transformed the century-old former Packard car dealership. An extensive renovation exposed historic brickwork and steel girders, industrial ceilings fitted with elegant lighting fixtures, big windows and double-doors.

“This is a renovation and restoration, because so many of the vintage elements have been retained,” says Katherine White, assistant manager and group sales manager.

A new pub, The Drouthy Bear, at 50 Elm St., was opened by Andrew and Shannon Stewart, who leveraged Andrew's Scottish background, love of traditional Scottish, Irish and British food and banter.

A few doors down, at 31 Elm St., is a new antiques and collectibles shop called Donnie B's. Nancy Leonard has relocated her clothing, jewelry and accessories shop from Rockport to Camden.

Another addition in Camden is Midcoast Medicine and Wellness, which moved from Rockport, opening at 5 Mountain St.

Capt. Aaron Lincoln, who operates sailing tours on two vessels, the 1927 schooner “Olad” and the 1940s cutter “Owl,” opened a retail shop at 29 Main St., to sell tickets, T-shirts and nautically themed wares.

“None of the other schooners here have done that, as far as I know,” Lincoln says. “I'd been thinking about it for a while. It just took me a long time to find a spot. It's an exciting experiment.”

As with any new season, Camden has at least three businesses with new owners: Camden House of Pizza (12 Mechanic St.), Camden Cone (31 Bay View St.) and Ducktrap Bay Trading Co. (20 Main St.).

Sea Dog space comes alive

In the meantime, contractors at the Sea Dog are working to get the pub and eatery finished for a grand opening in early July. Founded in Camden in 1993, in the former Knox Woolen Mill, Sea Dog closed in 2002 due to financial difficulties. Fred Forsley, co-founder and president of Shipyard Brewing, purchased Sea Dog in 2003, opened Sea Dog brewpubs in Topsham, Bangor and South Portland, and expanded distribution.

The company has put considerable care into the renovation of the former Cappy's, in recent months gutting the space to the timbers and brick, then bringing it up to code and making it accessible to all guests with the addition of a full-size elevator.

“It's been quite a process,” says Bunting. “We want to be respectful of the building's history, but at the same time, it is 2016 — and both buildings needed to be brought up to today's standards.”

Certain elements, such as the upstairs bar, will be retained in homage to Cappy's; a showpiece brew tank is being installed in homage to the original Sea Dog's brewing system.

Bunting expects to hire 60 to 80 employees for the summer, with a core of 30 to 50 year-round.

“It takes a lot of employees to run a restaurant,” he says. “Our goal is to hire as many people as we can from within the immediate area, because they tend to have the strongest connections to the community. We want to be part of that community and assist in any way we can in the employment picture.”

In all, 13 new and transitioning businesses were celebrated at the fifth annual “Business is Blooming” event — hosted by the Camden Area Business Group, town of Camden, Camden Public Library, Camden Garden Club and the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce — held mid-May, two weeks before the season got its first surge of tourists for Memorial Day weekend.

For a downtown densely packed with small businesses, 13 sounds like a lot of new activity.

But it's pretty typical, says Karen Brace, Camden's community development director.

“It goes up and down each year,” Brace says. “The economy is doing well and first-floor retail and restaurant spaces are very hard to come by. So when something opens up, it tends to fill fast.”

Year-round economy

Unlike some other coastal towns, Camden enjoys a year-round economy. Whereas hotels and restaurants typically close for the winter in locations such as Bar Harbor, many remain open in Camden.

“We have a large year-round population, which helps these businesses be stable,” says Brace.

“We have major conferences and events throughout the year, and more coming. These contribute tremendously to the stability of our economy,” Brace says, citing September's Camden International Film Festival, October's Pop Tech and February's Camden Conference as examples.

Investments in the Lyman-Morse at Wayfarer, Sea Dog, 16 Bay View and other establishments boost Camden's economy and add vitality, says Brace. The town contributes to revitalization through plans such as public landing improvements, with more green space and a new harbor walkway. The town's economic development committee works to attract and retain business, through initiatives such as visiting existing businesses and organizations to listen to their needs. A primary focus is on millennials who, now having families, are drawn to Camden for its fine school system. The committee is also reaching out to more conferences.

“Those are major economic drivers — the millennial population, the creative economy and our conferences,” says Brace.

As a small community, synergy — between business, residents and the town — is a byword.

“We consider Camden to be a campus,” says Brace. “When a conference comes, we work closely with the downtown business group. It's a partnership. We couldn't do anything without all partners being involved.”

“Anytime you're in a relatively small community,” Bunting adds, “it's more than putting the 'open' sign out. It's a community. It's people interacting. And then there's the role of business in a small downtown, and how we can be a positive influence. We want to be part of why Camden is such an amazing location.”