Photo / Courtesy, Julia Walker Thomas, Friends of Acadia
Dane Farm seasonal housing construction site on July 2.
August 1, 2024
National Park Foundation contributes $2M to build workforce housing for Acadia
Photo / Courtesy, National Park Service
Harden Farm in Bar Harbor has eight housing units for Acadia National Park’s seasonal employees, with room to build more.
The National Park Foundation has pledged to contribute $2 million to help build seasonal workforce housing in Acadia National Park.
The donation comes just a couple of weeks after Friends of Acadia, the fundraising partner for the park, publicly launched a $10 million capital campaign to address a severe shortage of housing for seasonal park employees.
Workforce housing is considered a priority for the National Park Service and national parks throughout the country.
The National Park Service and Friends of Acadia have identified two sites that could provide housing for 60-plus seasonal employees: the Harden Farm property in Bar Harbor and the Dane Farm property in Seal Harbor.
The $2 million will support construction of additional housing units at Harden Farm, which already has two, four-apartment buildings that date back to the 1960s.
“The National Park Foundation's excitement around the Harden Farm project, in addition to Friends of Acadia's philanthropic support, is going to help ensure Acadia National Park staff will have a place to call home during their tenure with the park,” said Superintendent Kevin Schneider.
The park owns the three-acre Harden Farm, which is just outside of Bar Harbor’s downtown area and next to a golf course. The site is considered advantageous because the park would be building on undeveloped land it owns, as opposed to obtaining land that otherwise would be available for constructing housing in the local community.
Earlier this month, Friends of Acadia publicly launched its $10 million Raise the Roof campaign to support construction at both Dane Farm and Harden Farm.
“Our long-term success in tackling this immense challenge is dependent on both public and private funding,” said Eric Stiles, Friends’ president and CEO.
The nonprofit raised $7.5 million during the quiet phase of the campaign, and the goal is to complete the campaign by the end of this year. The campaign is expected to leverage another $10 million or more in matching funds from federal and other sources.
Friends of Acadia’s overall housing strategy is to add at least 130 beds for seasonal workforce housing for Acadia and its partners.
Acadia needs 150 seasonal employees. But it was able to hire only 115 during the past couple of years, partly due to the lack of housing, leaving 30% of seasonal positions unfilled, Schneider has said.
Work is underway to build eight seasonal units at Dane Farm, at 73 and 75 Jordan Pond Road in Seal Harbor, a village of the town of Mount Desert. Friends acquired the four-acre property in 2023.
E.L. Shea Inc. of Ellsworth is the contractor. The project is on track to open by next spring, according to Friends of Acadia, which said it plans to donate the structures and the land to the park upon completion.
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