July 4, 1990
A tax rate increase of 10.83 percent is coming to Westbrook if the City Council accepts the School Committee’s budget next week. Westbrook will spend $27.5 million on city, school and county services, as the budget stands now, and two-thirds of it, $18.1 million, will come from the property tax. That is a $2 million increase in the property tax.
Tension filled Allen and Pauline Grant’s Westbrook house early last week as they waited for word of their son Nathan’s departure from the Philippines. Nathan, there as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, has been teaching second- and third-grade students in the town of Merida on the island of Leyte since July. But a week ago, communist rebels threatened to kill all Peace Corps volunteers in the country. The U.S. government quickly made moves to pull out all 261 of them. Pauline Grant said she was “very relieved” when a Peace Corps representative called Tuesday morning to say Nathan was safe and on his way back to the U.S.
Gorham House, a senior citizen residence facility, will hold a grand opening of its new, $6.5 million building July 6-8, and the public is invited. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Friday at 1 p.m., with speeches and appearances by local officials. Groundbreaking for the three-story, 133-bed facility took place in April 1989. Three partners with backgrounds in the senior care business – William Gillis, Joseph Hogan and Ward Hand – who now own Clover Health Care in Auburn, are the owners of Gorham House.
Grand marshals for the Celebrate Gorham parade July 14 will be longtime Little Falls residents and active local historians Rusty and Bertha Willis. A contest for children with decorated bikes, trikes, carriages, wheelbarrows or wagons will be sponsored by the Democratic Town Committee. Gov. John McKernan will march in the parade, bringing official greetings to the awards ceremony.
Early 20th-century prints from the Rothschild and Farnsworth museums collections will be on display July 15-Aug. 16 at the USM Art Gallery in Gorham. The exhibition shows master works of printmaking from both sides of the Atlantic.
July 5, 2000
For the next month or so after Westbrook Building Inspector Harry LeClair’s retirement, code violations and inspections will be handled by himself and Planner Matt Eddy, James Bennett, Mayor Donald Esty’s administrative assistant, told the City Council Wednesday. In announcing LeClair’s departure to the council, Bennett said the city’s “had a long history of passive enforcement. We’re shifting gears.” The city is in the process of hiring a new code enforcement officer and the administration is preparing to present a new “anti-clutter” ordinance. LeClair, Westbrook’s building inspector since 1979, turned 65, worked his last day Friday, declined a party and will be using up accumulated vacation time until late August or September.
Westbrook’s Summer Concerts in the Park Series will feature outdoor entertainment Wednesday evenings from July 12-Aug. 23. Bands playing are Harmony, July 12; Terry White Big Band, July 19; Al Doane Swing Band, July 26; Common Ground, Aug. 2; Steppin’ Out and Magical Mystery Tour, Aug. 9; Phil Rich Big Band, Aug. 16; and Tony Boffa, Aug. 23.
Gorham police have charged two men and a male juvenile last week in connection with the BB shooting that send Joanne Pritchard to the hospital with a chest wound. Lt. Wayne Coffin said Pritchard was walking along Gray Road between Johnson Road and Gorham Savings Bank around 7:45 p.m. June 26 when she realized she had been shot in the chest by something in a passing van. Coffin said that two persons were arrested the day after the shooting, an 18-year-old boy from South Portland police say pulled the trigger and a juvenile who was riding in the van at the time. A 19-year-old from Gorham who police say drove the van was arrested Friday.
City Planner Matt Eddy, Economic Development Director Don Mannet and James Bennett, Mayor Donald Esty’s administrative assistant, brought the city-commissioned Westbrook Riverfront Master Plan to a meeting of the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce Friday. Besides outlining the entire plan, they mounted a strong argument for it, as potentially helping lure to the city some high-tech firm to whom Internet access is important. The audience included strong supporters, strong skeptics and a few who quietly asked pointed questions.
Mercy Hospital, which will break ground July 10 on a $2 million expansion of Mercy Westbrook, the former Westbrook Community Hospital, announced Wednesday that it has plans for still further expansion away from its main hospital on State Street, Portland. “We are testing the feasibility of building a large ambulatory center with adequate parking and accessibility rather than only renovating and expanding at our current State Street site,” the announcement said. A new parking area is nearing completing at Mercy Westbrook, where building construction is set to begin. Whether Mercy’s announcement raises the possibility of still further expansion in Westbrook could not be learned. The hospital is building a 9,200-square-foot addition in Westbrook to be used as a recovery center for patients with chemical dependency.
This shows the temporary bridge connecting Bridge Street to Main Street in 1957. It was put in place while the old steel bridge on Bridge Street was being replaced. Construction is under way now on a new bridge at this location. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-noon, and the first Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m., September-June. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org. Photo and research courtesy of Mike SanphySend questions/comments to the editors.
