KENNEBUNK — Rest sites along Route 1, once a Maine staple on a par with maple tree tapping in the early spring and black flies in the summer, are fast becoming extinct.

One of the few remaining sites, a former rest area in Kennebunk, is on course to become a site where yachts are prepared for use.

The town is considering an offer from yacht broker Benjamin Meggs, who has offered $115,000 to purchase the 14-acre parcel. Residents authorized the town to sell the property in June 2014.

Kennebunk Economic Development Director Mathew Eddy said at a selectmen board meeting earlier this week that the property has about five buildable acres; the rest consists of wetlands. “It’s kind of chopped up,” he said.

Eddy said the town has received a few offers for the property, and the best is from Meggs.

Meggs said he does not plan to build yachts on the property, but bring yachts in to “rig out,” or ready for use with sails and rigging.

The selectmen are expected to vote on Meggs’ offer at its March 8 meeting.

Roadside rest areas – small picnic spots with picnic tables and portable toilets, often in wooded settings – were often built more than 50 years ago by the Maine State Highway Commission, and maintained by it as well.

A brochure published in 1970 by the state Department of Economic Development and stored in the Maine State Library digital archives lists nearly 200 roadside rest stops in the state – 30 on Route 1 alone.

The brochure was created to help visitors plan their vacations to Maine. In a letter printed in the brochure, David Stevens, then-chairman of the state Highway Commission (now the Maine Department of Transportation), states, “It is our sincere wish that you enjoy using the roadside rest areas and Maine high ways.”

State Highway Maintenance Engineer Brian Burne said that today, only about 35 of these small rest areas are left statewide, in addition to visitor centers and turnpike travel centers.

Burne said the state took a look at how the rest stops were being used and whether it was economically feasible to maintain them. As more and more gas stations with convenience stores, momand pop stores and fast-food restaurants cropped up, people were stopping at rest areas to use the picnic and bathroom facilities less and less.

“The days of stopping to grill are gone,” said Burne.

Burne said the state either gave away or sold rest areas in places near commercial developments that were being underutilized to the municipalities in which they were located. It has kept rest areas with scenic views that are still attractive to travelers.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.