New owner aims to protect historic bank building in downtown Bucksport

The new owner of a historic bank building in downtown Bucksport says he intends to preserve the 114-year-old building, but that he otherwise isn’t sure what he will do with it.

Matthew J. Cunningham, a landscape architect in suburban Boston, bought the 3,400-square-foot building last month from Tim Rich, according to documents filed with the Hancock County Registry of Deeds. The purchase price of the sale has not been disclosed.

Cunningham, who grew up in Bucksport, said he has long admired the former Merrill Trust Company bank branch building on the corner of Main and Federal streets. His grandparents were customers there and, when the bank branch was shuttered in the 1990s, they ended up with a wooden “Bucksport Branch” sign that had been out front of the bank that they later incorporated into a shed on their farm on Route 46.

Cunningham, whose company also has an office in Portland, has owned his grandparents’ former farm since 2005. He said he bought the bank building in part to help preserve Bucksport’s local history, but he isn’t sure yet how he will re-use the space.

“We’re considering ideas ranging from positioning a satellite studio of my practice there to serve our midcoast patrons, to establishing an art gallery, or even partnering with someone who shares my passion to create a brewery, restaurant, or a cafe,” Cunningham said. “There are endless opportunities to do something special, and I am incredibly lucky that the stars aligned when they did.”

The prior owner, who for years owned and operated The Independent Cafe in Bar Harbor, said he had planned to open a bar or cafe in the building but decided to sell after his mother fell ill and he moved to western Maine to be closer to her.

The building had been listed for sale for $524,000. Rich bought the building in 2021 for $475,000, according to Bucksport’s property tax records.

The red brick building, built in 1910, consists of a large open space with tin ceilings on the ground floor, which still has the original vault with its door. Two spiral staircases lead down to the two-bedroom apartment in the basement, while a third leads to a small loft above the ground floor vault.

The basement apartment was added by former owners Doug and Jeanne Robinson in the early 2000s, according to Old House Web . The apartment has an open living and dining room, a modern kitchen and two bedrooms. Each bedroom has its own bathroom, one of which has a clawfoot bathtub. A former basement vault has been converted into a laundry room for the apartment.

Cunningham said he plans to spend time over the coming year getting feedback on possible new uses from local residents, and to come up with a “spectacular” landscape design for the property that he hopes will serve as a catalyst for similar improvements in Bucksport.

“It’s no secret that Bucksport has struggled to secure its identity since the paper mill closed down , and I’m hopeful that with this property I can play some part in reimagining the future of the town without erasing important parts of its past,” Cunningham said. “Between the sweeping views of the Penobscot River, the Fort, and the “new” Penobscot Narrows Bridge, I think Bucksport is about to burst back onto the scene in unimaginable ways.”