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Bangor food-business incubator project advances to front burner

A drawing has lines and color blocks. Drawing / Courtesy Paul Designs Project The city is reviewing proposals for a construction manager for a commercial kitchen incubator at 50 Cleveland St.
By Laurie Schreiber

Several years after conception, construction of a commercial kitchen incubator could be on track in Bangor.

Bangor Central Kitchen is slated to be located at 50 Cleveland St.

The project will involve the demolition of an 18,167-square-foot structure that was formerly the Officers' Club for the former Dow Air Force Base and the construction of a prefabricated metal building of 18,000 square feet.

The city’s business and economic development committee is reviewing proposals for a construction manager as the project moves into the construction and operator model phase.

The building will be designed to house a commercial kitchen incubator serving the Bangor area.

Growing food scene

The project responds to Bangor’s growing food scene. A 2023 study found that per capita restaurant sales and food industry employment in Bangor were both above the norm compared with the rest of the state’s economy. But expansion was constrained by the city’s tight real estate market. 

Potential users include producers of consumer-packaged goods, mobile vendors and chefs and caterers willing to travel up to 90 minutes to use the facility, the study says. 

Last year, the project received a $500,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission toward the total project cost of $5.4 million. 

Business development

The shared-use commercial kitchen incubator is expected to benefit agricultural producers and processors as a strategy for business development and job creation in Maine's agriculture and food-processing clusters.

The Central Kitchen will be made available to startup businesses to prepare, package and market locally produced food, receive technical assistance and use special events and retail space. 

“It represents a key public investment in local food infrastructure and small business development,” according to the committee.

The city is working with Paul Designs Project, an architecture, planning and design firm in Portland. The committee said it aims to have construction completed by late next year.

Earlier this month, the committee said it plans to advance the construction phase and operator selection.

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