July 18, 1990

Idexx Corp. president David Shaw said Monday “it is a reasonable possibility” that his Portland-based bio-tech company will move its workforce of nearly 200 to the currently half-vacant Data General Plant in Westbrook. That plant is reportedly for sale as a whole but also for lease in part. Idexx would be leasing the space. Shaw stressed that Idexx has not yet decided on a site and until it has, “nothing is certain.” But he said, “It’s certainly a pretty good option at this point.”

The Westbrook City Council’s Finance Committee meets July 19 on the school budget. It is expected to be the last work session before the council takes final action Monday on a budget that would raise taxes 10.82 percent. All aldermen are members of the Finance Committee. The council has had the school budget under study since a stormy work session June 25 ended in a 3-3 vote that defeated a motion to cut it $200,000. The proposed cut would be 1.3 percent of the $15,096,219 school budget.

Full page advertisement: Fellow Citizens of Westbrook, we need your help. Tell your mayor! Tell your aldermen! We need relief. Ask them to vote no on July 23 on additional licenses for out-of-town vendors. A lunch truck pays Westbrook in taxes $25 a year. The average store pays Westbrook in taxes $2,000 a year. Is this fair? Ad paid for by Art’s Variety, Beaver Pond Variety, Cornerstone Restaurant, Corsetti’s Variety, Coyne’s Variety, Flagg’s tavern, Kat’s Deli, Lively’s Variety, Marty’s Variety, Mathieu’s Food Market, McDonald’s Restaurant, Michael’s Deli & Variety, Neat’s, Park Place Variety, Severino’s Variety, Shirley’s Deli & Variety, Steve’s Variety, Stop & Talk Sandwich Shop.

The Gorham School Committee will hold a special meeting July 26 to interview a finalist or finalists for the position of business manager. It is hoped that a final decision will be made that evening. Stan Cohen, business manager since 1987, has taken a similar position at Bridgton Academy. Superintendent Tim McCormack’s office received 150 applications for the position. The field has been narrowed to 11 candidates.

In Gorham on July 14, Phyllis and Stubby Treworgy, Flaggy Meadow Road, and Maurice and Shirley Pope and Joyce Bibber, Highland Avenue, were hosts to over 200 visitors. Five busloads of the American Society for Japanese Iris were in Gorham, made up of iris lovers from England, Japan, Canada and the United States, here to see some of the loveliest gardens in the state. All three of the Gorham gardens were at their peak and a delight to their guests.

July 19, 2000

Sappi is investing nearly $10 million in a Westbrook project expected to create 23 new jobs, company spokeswoman Melanie Otero said Wednesday. Renovations are making room for a new UltraCast release papercoating machine, or coater, in what formerly was a pipe shop across Cumberland Street from the police station. It will be Westbrook’s fourth UltraCast coater. UltraCast is a process developed by the S.D. Warren lab in Westbrook that yields casting papers for high-quality faux leathers and other fabrics.

A major retail development may be built on the flat top of the hill at Prides Corner, Westbrook, out behind the present strip of roadside businesses. Westbrook’s administration and developer Wolcott “Bill” Gaines, Windham, announced the project yesterday, describing the proposed tenants as businesses either now not doing business in Maine or with only minor representation here. It would use 66 acres of a site of nearly 220 acres, with parking behind a group of stores that could include a department store, restaurant, home center, cinema, restaurants and other retailers. The total area of the stores would be more than 500,000 square feet. Mayor Donald Esty will sign a joint development agreement between the city and Gaines, and his administration will seek to expedite the project through city approvals it needs, including a zone change.

Charlotte Adams, one of the first and longest-serving woman police officers in the area, is retiring this month after 25 years on the Westbrook police force. She was the first woman officer ever assigned to night duty in Westbrook. In 1982 she was assigned to the Youth Aid Bureau. Later she served five years as a Westbrook detective.

The Gorham Planning Board, acting on several items last week, gave site plan approval to a request from Lampron Energy Inc. for approval to convert a vacant building behind its Ossipee Trail Gulf station in West Gorham into another of the company’s Lil’ Mart convenience stores. The store will expand current gas and diesel fuel service, both of which will remain full service. Lampron Energy also owns and operates two other Lil’ Marts, one in Bridgton and the other in Little Falls.

Lester and Natalie Armstrong, Gorham, were in Iceland in May for about a week, visiting their son Todd, a staff sergeant stationed at the air base at Keflavik. Todd has been there since last year and will soon be transferred to Edmund Air Force Base in Florida. The Armstrongs found Iceland a fascinating place to visit. They took a three-day tour on the ring round around the island, literally. You can’t really get to the interior. It’s mostly tundra covered in and snow and volcanic areas. All the cities and towns are located on the edges of the island.

The Salvation Army operated from this building on Fitch Street for many years, moving here after their quarters on Bridge Street was heavily damaged when the Valle Block burned in 1942. The Salvation Army relocated to Rochester Street for a brief period and this building was demolished by urban renewal. The Salvation Army later relocated to Bridge Street and remained there until several years ago, when it closed the Westbrook location. The building on the right in this photo was the O.G.K. Robinson Carpenter Shop, which featured a overhead belt and pulley system to power the woodworking equipment. Urban renewal demolished this building, as well. 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 Sanphy