Nick Forrest of RDB Construction of Auburn cuts lumber for two new storefronts in the Turner Street Center plaza in Auburn between Hobby Lobby and Starbucks on Tuesday morning. A Mattress Firm and a yet-unnamed business will have their buildings constructed in the parking lot as the foundation, background, is being built. When completed, the superstructures will be lifted by a crane and lowered into place. Mattress Firm is expected to open in the fall. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
This week, The Buzz answers a burning question: Just what’s going on between Hobby Lobby and Starbucks over in Auburn?
Grab a pillow. It’s Mattress Firm.
Developer Tom Auger is building a two-unit pad in the Turner Street Center plaza, one side for a 4,000-square-foot store and one for a 2,600-square-foot store, according to Eric Cousens, the city’s deputy director of economic and community development.
Mattress Firm has committed to the larger side.
RDB Construction Inc. of Auburn is the general contractor for the site. The permit with the city estimates the project’s cost at $900,000 plus interior fit-ups.
A Mattress Firm spokesperson said it has a projected opening date of Sept. 21.
A Curio-osity …
Downtown Lewiston has got it going on.
Last week it was Sonder & Dram. This week, The Curio Art & Alehouse.
Sheri Withers Hollenbeck, her husband, Stanley Hollenbeck, and artist Corey DuFour are behind the new venture at 110 Lisbon St., the former Lamey Wellehan building.
Withers Hollenbeck said they’ve signed a five-year lease for the building with the option to purchase at the end of five years.
For the storefront level, “we’ll be a gallery with a cafe — a coffee shop and a bar, with soups and sandwiches, but it’ll be more of a community event space, so we’ll also have a small stage where we’ll have different local musicians perform, artists’ talks, along with receptions for the gallery openings,” she said.
A makers space is planned for the basement with instructors teaching classes — think 3-D printing, sewing — and the artist co-op The Hive will eventually move there, Withers Hollenbeck said.
They hope to open at the end of summer after doing much of the renovation work themselves.
It’ll have “art, ale and oddities, a little bit of everything for everybody,” she said.
Makes you want to read
Just how busy was the Lewiston Public Library last year?
So glad you asked.
Adult and teen services library assistant Renan Ferreira compiled stats for the February Lewiston City Administrator’s Report, released Tuesday, and found quite the treasure trove of numbers including:
• 118,864: Number of library visits in 2017.
• 132,225: Number of items checked out.
• 23,764: Number of computer uses.
• 6,473: Number of ebook and audiobook downloads.
There’s no word on how many hours that took to compile.
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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