As Hurricane Wal-Mart continues to batter the coast of Maine with at least 5 superstore proposals, citizens in Bangor have already experienced the usual high winds that accompany any Wal-Mart community presentation. Residents in Bangor have organized into the Bangor Area Citizens Organized for Responsible Development (BACORD). The citizens group charges that Wal-Mart wants to locate 70 feet from the Penjajawoc marsh, impinging on a wetlands area. “27 acres of outstanding undeveloped wildlife habitat is to be covered by asphalt, steel and concrete,” BACORD says. “The future of Bangor landscapes, natural resources and neigbhborhoods should not be determined by outside corporate developers who scoop up profits for themselves at the expense of local areas.” BACORD called the Wal-Mart proposal for a 224,000 s.f. store “huge and unnecessary.” A Wal-Mart “community affairs manager” tried to “manage” the damage by stating that Wal-Mart discussions with the city were “in the preliminary stages of the permitting process” and that “regularly scheduled public hearings have been postponed in an effort to address concerns which has been raised.” But Wal-Mart has refused to explain to the Bangor community why it needs a second store in the city. Wal-Mart already has a 114,513 s.f. store on Springer Drive that opened only 8 years ago. The new store would be nearly twice that size, and would be open 24 hours a day. “Hopefully we can all find some middle ground as this process evolves,” Wal-Mart said, but for citizens in BACORD, Wal-Mart’s middle ground is right in a marsh, and its plans for a new store are all wet.
To show you how confident and arrogant Wal-Mart is, they have listed the Bangor store on Springer Drive as an “available building”. Wal-Mart Realty has 3 Maine stores up for sale or lease. The Bangor store has been listed for at least six months, plus a store in Auburn, and a new listing in Ellsworth. So Wal-Mart is clearly prepared to sell the Bangor store, which it owns, and has had the property on the market for quite some time, even though the hearing process in Bangor has just begun. They may be saying discussions are in the “preliminary stages” — but the “old” Wal-Mart store in Bangor has already been put up for sale. That’s the other side of the WAL that the company has not shown the good people of Bangor.
