The owners of the Wawwnock Block in downtown Wiscasset doesn’t know how long it will take to repair the building’s brick façade after it unexpectedly crumbled earlier this month. Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record

Contractors are working to stabilize the façade of a downtown Wiscasset building after a layer of bricks peeled off and crumbled to the sidewalk below earlier this month, but the exact cause of the collapse and how long repairs will take remain unknown.

Mark Robinson, a representative of Doering Brothers LLC, a Florida-based company that has owned the building since the 1980s, said crews are bracing the building from the interior and installing staging to stabilize it and prepare for repairs. A mason salvaged the fallen bricks to use in the repairs.

Robinson said the owner “expects that once the staging is up, they’ll have a diagnosis and prognosis within one or two weeks.”

Owner Ralph Doering, who owns the Wawenock Block and several others buildings in downtown Wiscasset, still doesn’t know how much the repairs will cost, according to Robinson.

Town Manager Dennis Simmons said he believes the building doesn’t pose a risk to public safety. He also said he’s thankful no one was injured when bricks peeled off the front of the 163-year-old building at 67 Main St.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that this will cut into the tourist season,” Simmons said in reference to repair efforts on the building. “We’ll lend whatever help is necessary, but as far as responsibility, it’s a privately owned building.”

Crews were working to stabilize the building and install staging to prepare for repairs, according to a representative for the building’s owner. Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record

The sidewalk in front of the building is closed to pedestrians, but the roads surrounding the building are clear.

“With safety measures under control, my biggest worry right now is my tenants,” Doering wrote in an April 9 statement. “This has hit them the hardest.”

The building housed two commercial tenants, the Wiscasset Bay Gallery and In A Silent Way, a wine bar, both of which have remained closed since the collapse. The second and third floors of the building are vacant, Robinson said.

Wiscasset Bay Gallery owner Keith Oehmig said he’s optimistic about the summer season because he was able to find a new space to move temporarily.

“Fortunately for us, the retail space next door was vacant so we’re going to be able to move into that space for the season,” said Oehmig. “We’re moving forward with getting the art transferred over to the new space.”

Wiscasset Bay Gallery Owner said he’s optimist about this summer because he was able to move his gallery into an empty retail space next door. Photo courtesy of Cordelia Oehmig

Oehmig said being able to open for the summer will help keep his business afloat because he does about 80% of his business in May through October.

“We think it’s going to be a strong season,” he said. “I’ve been hearing good things from friends who own galleries.” 

Wiscasset Chamber of Commerce Administrative Assistant Patricia Cloutier said she believes the town should prepare to see an “onslaught” of tourists this summer.

“I have a feeling that this year is going to be spectacular,” said Cloutier. “I think a lot of people are getting their COVID-19 shots, feeling better and want so desperately to get out. I think we’re going to see a surge of tourists this year.”

Although she wasn’t able to say how many visitors come through Wiscasset each summer, she said the downtown has already seen the first trickle of tourists, largely drawn in by Red’s Eats, a seasonal seafood shack that opened Monday.

Cloutier predicted visitors won’t be deterred by the restricted sidewalk and construction on the Wawenock Block, which will benefit the various businesses that rely on the increased foot traffic summer brings.

“People will still come and walk around,” she said. “It certainly won’t stop people. It’s not like the entire village fell down.”

While Oehmig has secured a new home for the summer, In A Silent Way co-owners Chandler Sowden and Zack Goodwin aren’t sure what the future holds.

The pair first opened the wine bar in July 2020. They signed the lease for the building in November 2019 and originally planned to open in the spring of 2020, but were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although Sowden and Goodwin said they had a strong summer and fall season, being unable to open after the façade of their building crumbled is “a huge setback.”

“Being unable to open will certainly have a greater impact than any changes we made due to COVID-19,” Sowden and Goodwin wrote in a statement Friday. “We are still in the process of planning, but at the moment we aren’t sure what is next.”

Aside from his commercial tenants, Doering wrote he’s concerned about a family living in an apartment next to the Wawenock Block.

“As a safety precaution staying in that space is just not tenable. I have been paying for them to stay in a hotel or motel, but a permanent solution is required.”

Doering wrote he offered the family an open apartment in Damariscotta and wrote he would waive the rent for April and May, but the family declined the offer because it “doesn’t fit their needs.”

Robinson did not return requests for comment Thursday regarding the current status of the family.