Changing Seasons

        My challenge today is to tell you about the dramatic changes that are going on in Bath. It’s a herculean task because there is so much happening this summer in Maine's Cool Little City, and I tend to be wordy. Every time I walk my dog down Front Street or up Washington Street, I notice construction and change everywhere. Bath seems to be revisiting the boom year of 1854! I wish I could craft words as skillfully as Ana María Matute, one of my favorite Spanish authors, who has mastered the art of telling short, compelling stories. Sadly, I don’t think I've ever told a short story, but I am going to try.

In the interest of time, I'm going to focus my lens on three specific newcomers to Bath: Run with Soup, the new café at 1356 Washington Street, Salt Pine Social, the soon-to-open restaurant at 244 Front Street, and the Bath River Walk Residences that are presently under construction on the waterfront in the historic “coal pocket.” But before I begin to comment on noteworthy events, I feel it’s the right time to quote Ana María Matute: “Todo pasa y todo se queda.” That translates to “Everything changes and everything remains the same.” In any language, Matute’s poetic wisdom rings true. I believe the faces and storefronts of Bath are ever changing, but the history of Bath is carved in stone, and the spirit is everlasting. 

What is worse than a speeding ticket? If you drive too fast up the hill at the north end of Washington Street, you will miss the Run with Soup sign, a stick-figure in motion holding a bowl of soup, and that would be devastating because Charlene Tuplin and her team (Jess and Steve) make spectacular homemade quiche, soups, salads, sandwiches, pies, cherry and peach turnovers, blueberry-zucchini bread and chocolate chip with coconut cookies that may have a drop of Merlot. I literally discovered Run with Soup when I was running one morning, and now I have two addictions: running and Run with Soup! It’s one of Bath’s many blessings that Charlene had the vision to transform what was once Southern Maine Community College’s coffee shop into a thriving breakfast and lunch spot for local residents and their visitors. Charlene’s sweet café is nestled in the back corner of a red brick building that over a dozen years ago was home to Mid Coast Hospital. Bob Smith, the building’s new owner, also deserves praise for imagining something new for what was a dormant commercial property. In a historic city, it’s encouraging to see that old buildings, like old homes, are being renovated and sometimes even repurposed. 

Charlene used to work in her  kitchen at home to prepare her signature soups for delivery, but as her client list grew she realized she needed more space and a few extra hands. Ergo, she transformed a dusty, old coffee shop into a modern hub for Navy crews, office workers, circles of friends, mothers and daughters, and anyone who happens to need breakfast or lunch on the go. Without a doubt, some people are born to run! With it’s inviting chalkboard menu, Charlene's perky place might be a little off the beaten path, but it is definitely situated on a field of dreams. And now I feel an urge to quote a Kevin Costner movie: “If you build it, they will come.”

An Irish stone wall around a new dining spot on Front Street

In the near future, Salt Pine Social, will add a different flavor to Bath cooking. The owners, Eloise Humphrey, and her sister and brother-in-law, Daphne and Paul Comaskey have a sterling reputation in the restaurant business. They opened El Camino Cantina, a popular Mexican style restaurant in Brunswick in 2004, and they decided to bring a new culinary experience to Bath in 2015 when they purchased a 3,000 square foot building, which included an antique house and a garage at the corner of Linden and Front Streets. Ironically, the old building used to be an antique store called Tintypes, which for some odd reason reminds me of the Girl Scout song: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” Antique stores seem to be fading away in Bath, but sometimes their treasure resurfaces in new homes and businesses. Perhaps Pine Tree Social will use antique tables and adorn their dining space with artifacts from the shipyards of Long Reach. This new restaurant promises to showcase locally grown and raised food, offer seasonal dishes, prepare great seafood and pour good wine. And their outside seating area is already surrounded by a stone wall, which was artfully built by Green Island Stonework, a company that specializes in building one-of-a-kind walls stone by stone.               

A work of art by Green Island Stonework

When I first arrived in Bath a few years ago, I crossed over the Sagadahoc Bridge and visited the Nequasset Meeting House in Woolwich. According to the historic marker, this pre-Revolutionary War building served as the first Congregational Church east of the Kennebec as early as 1757. In order to enter the nearby cemetery, I had to pass through the opening of a magnificent stone wall. On that day, I took a lot of pictures of the wall because it struck me as an enduring work of art. I also assumed the wall was as old as the meeting house. A few weeks later, I attended a talk by the Bath Garden Club, and one of the master gardeners, Barbara Richards, mentioned the construction of a new stone wall with an old Irish design at her home in Woolwich. Later, I asked her about the wall at Nequasset, and she told me that the same company of artisans that built her wall also built the Nequasset wall. The beautiful stonewall that I admired next to the old church really wasn’t old at all! Everything changes and everything remains the same. Whether it’s 1757 or 2016, great walls are built stone by stone!

A new JHR showroom in a historic brick building

Sometimes we welcome change, and sometimes we resist it. Last year, after a heated debate,the City of Bath approved JHR Development’s plan to construct five buildings along the waterfront in the historic “coal pocket.” Some local residents vehemently opposed the project because the buildings would block the viewshed of the Kennebec River. In order to win the city’s approval, Mr. Hilary Rocket, the president of JHR, promised to build a river walk in front of the condominiums that the general public could freely access. Consequently, the development now underway is called The Bath River Walk Residences. Hopefully, when this ambitious project is completed, the community of Bath will embrace it as a positive change. In the meantime, growing pains can hurt.

As fate and Bath would have it, JHR set up their showroom in the old Morris S. Povich building at 143 Front Street. The former occupant of that historic space was Brick Store Antiques. For twenty-five years Polly Thibodeau, with the help of her sister, Jan, sold antique furniture, collectibles and vintage items of every kind in that classy store, and I was a satisfied customer. Today, the treasure for sale is different: luxury condominiums with a fabulous view in the City of Ships. With luck, the new owners of the River Walk Residences will appreciate history and love antiques, and the community of Bath will continue to follow the Girl Scout rule: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”

An angel with flowers next to Claudette Gamache's Gallery on Front Street