BIDDEFORD — At one time, all the clocks for the WestPoint mills were regulated by a single master clock. If there was a power outage, said Biddeford resident Scott Marcoux, all the clocks throughout the mill buildings would be reset simply by setting the master clock.
This clock was one of the items recovered when Doug Sanford purchased the former WestPoint Home buildings in Biddeford. It was one of the artifacts on display Friday and Saturday at the Mill Museum in Building 36 of Biddeford’s mill district.
About 100 people visited the temporary museum, estimated Joseph McKenney.
McKenney, who owns McKenney Photography on Main Street, volunteered to assist with the museum by reprinting mill photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries that are part of a collection owned by the McArthur Library.
In addition to the clock and photographs, another artifact on display is what is labeled as the last piece of Vellux produced at WestPoint in 2009.
Vellux blankets were the last items produced at the WestPoint Home Biddeford plant prior to its closing in the summer of 2009.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” said Biddeford resident Cindy Seeley, about the museum. “It shows where Biddeford came from and where it is now.”
“I think it’s absolutely amazing,” said Chris Betjeman, who is a part owner of the Lincoln Mill. “It’s long overdue.”
“There is very little tourism in Biddeford,” he said, but with a permanent mill museum, “We could have something that drew people here.”
There has been discussion by city officials that a museum about the mills should be part of the mill district redevelopment. The city has not pursued development of a museum, however, so Sanford donated space in one of his empty buildings for the temporary display.
Marcoux, who coordinated the project, said he hopes with Sanford’s permission that the museum can continue and open once or twice a month. Marcoux said he was interested in the project because he had family members who had worked in the Biddeford mills.
After visiting a mill museum in Lowell, Mass., Marcoux said he thought, “This is something we need to do here. This is a no-brainer.”
A mill museum is important, said Marcoux, “to honor the people who worked in these mills for so long and bring people to the downtown.”
“While we can’t bring the mills back, we can use their history and the structures that are here to do more for the downtown,” he said.
The items on display were pulled together in just a few weeks, said Marcoux.
“In my mind, this is a starter kit,” he said, adding that he hoped to get more items to put on display and research more of the city’s mill history.
Putting together a first-rate museum would require a lot of fundraising, said David Flood, who owns several properties in Biddeford’s downtown.
However, he said, “It’s a great idea.”
“We have a unique area here that is amazing,” said Flood.
On trips he’s taken to Ireland, he said, he’s visited castles. Here in Maine, the mill buildings, said Flood, “are the closest thing I’ve seen to a castle.”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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