This week’s Buzz: In a word, dazzling.
And, also, decaying.
But dazzle first!
The site of one of the world’s largest tourmaline finds has a buyer who has no immediate plans to dig for the next great tourmaline find.
Kevin Fletcher of Malone Commercial Brokers listed Plumbago Mountain in Newry for sale in July. Back in 1972, more than a ton of valuable tourmaline was pulled from a mine on the site.
The three owners originally listed 2,222 acres for $2.7 million. In late November, 1,762 acres sold to an undisclosed buyer for $1.85 million, with the famous mine and mineral rights going to the new buyer.
“They’re just going to hold it and sit on it for a while,” Fletcher said Tuesday.
Ready to get your sparkle on?
The second annual Sparkle Sunday is Dec. 18 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be 55 vendors at 23 sites between 4 Lisbon St. and 351 Lisbon St., snow or shine.
“It’s not a craft fair, to be clear — this is a shopping and dining experience,” said Heidi Audet, the owner of Chill Yoga and one of three organizers.
The point, she said, is to bring back the old-school fun of shopping on Lisbon Street.
Vendors from around Lewiston and Auburn and other towns including Camden and Freeport will sell handbags, clothes, stuffed animals, jewelry and yarn, among other things.
There will be music, beer, wine and food tastings, as well as kid-crafting and face-painting, all free.
Last year, with 30 vendors, “the stores were packed and we had a huge turnout,” Audet said. “I think there were almost $10,000 in sales that were made between restaurants and vendors. It was pretty exciting.”
An informant walks into a candy shop …
The former Lou-Rod Candy at 1047 Sabattus St. has been condemned and marked for demolition. The city took ownership in June because of matured tax liens, according to City Planner David Hediger.
The code office’s file on the candy company, which started in the building in the 1960s and made the popular treat needhams, reveals a somewhat contentious relationship with the city over the years.
A laundry list of health-related issues in 1991 included: “Food not protected from dirt and dust.” Owners were dinged several years for having more than one unregistered or uninspected vehicle in the yard.
The company was called out in 2004 for continuing to operate with a special food handler’s license that had expired the year before. The owner pleaded guilty.
But later that same year, according to the file: “a confidential informant stated to a Lewiston police officer that (the owner), not withstanding his Oct. 13, 2004, conviction, was continuing to employ individuals in the basement of the premises and continuing to operate a business there.”
It’s unclear when the shop closed; the city clerk’s office shreds business licenses after three years of inactivity.
The last entry in the file, from August 2016, notes that “the property has been abandoned since the death of its former owner.” The code officer, responding to a neighbor’s complaint of a door ajar, went inside to find mold, debris, poor air quality and a roof that had clearly leaked for years.
“The city is in the process of abating the property,” Hediger said. “Once completed, the structure will be demolished.”
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
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