Municipal

Bangor Projects Creating Revenue, Excitement

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Celebrity Bar and Grill at Hollywood Casino Hotel and Raceway

Bangor, ME – Along Maine’s meandering Penobscot River, the City of Bangor, population 33,000, is preparing for a new five-story hotel, the sixth hotel planned for the region in less than a decade, and is securing proposal responses for a waterfront amphitheater.

Bangor’s waterfront is seeing a surge of activity, and it’s just the start, say city councilman Gibran Graham. The city’s Main Street, adjacent to the waterfront, will see the addition of grassy medians and improved lighting, as well as widened sidewalks to improve pedestrian safety and encourage cycling use.

“It’s an exciting time for the people of Bangor,” Graham says. “Development is brisk, and Mainers are benefiting. New businesses and venues mean more options, more jobs, and more revenue for the area.”

Maine-based WBRC Architects • Engineers is playing a key role in many of these projects. The 60-person firm teamed with Sink Combs Dethlefs, an arena and convention center expert based in Denver, Co., to bring Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center to fruition. The 5,800-seat arena and convention center officially opened last September. Already, it has hosted more than 200 events, and many more are on the way, says Tiffany Sun, the center’s director of sales and marketing. “We expect to host over 320 events by the end of the 2014 calendar year,” Sun says.

A new Residence Inn by Marriott, designed by New Hampshire-based Pro Con and owned by Ocean Properties, will support additional accommodation needs for Cross Insurance Center events.

The 124-room hotel, a few feet away from the center, recently broke ground and is scheduled to open in May 2015. The inn and its restaurant, combined, is expected to employ 150 people. WBRC provided civil engineering services for the project.

Across the street, Hollywood Casino Hotel and Raceway has already upped its offerings with the recently opened Celebrity Bar and Grill.

The 3,600sf space, which seats 124, is an alternative to the hotel’s popular Epic Buffet restaurant and Take 2 Snack Bar. The new restaurant, designed by California-based Genesis Associates with Architect-of-Record WBRC, features a warm, metropolitan décor with vintage celebrity photos and circular bar area.

“The restaurant is derivative of a Hollywood street-side café with an art deco feel,” says Jacob Charles of Genesis Associates.

“Each project has a role in revitalizing Bangor’s waterfront region and we are pleased to be part of this growth,” says WBRC’s Mathew Ward, AIA, architect and senior associate.