Following the approval of the site plan at the Waldoboro Planning Board meeting Oct. 14, a new structure will be joining the existing buildings at the Waldoboro Environmental Park, an area also called the Waldoboro Business Park on Route 32.
According to George Seaver, of Waldoboro, who owns the business park, the new building will be used for a new business making aquaculture feed.
Architect Tony Kieffer said the planned structure will make use of a variety of sustainable building materials.
Kieffer said the building offers advantages over a standard steel structure.
“The building geometrically maximizes the square footage where solar can be put on the roof,” Kieffer said.
He said the building will be comprised of a substructure built out of fiberglass using arches to support a polycarbonate standing seam roof utilizing flexible solar panels.
“It is designed in an elegant and geometrically efficient way,” Kieffer said.
Kieffer described the building materials as naturally translucent, providing natural light in the building’s interior.
Kieffer said the building materials to be used are well-established in the industry. He is currently working on a greenhouse structure in Buxton with some similarities to the materials and design of the future Waldoboro project.
Seaver said in an email the park was originally home to the Medomak Canning Factory, lending it the address of 1 Pie Rd., and is currently rented out to four primary tenants.
The new business will collaborate with one of the businesses utilizing the space, Ocean Organics, which produces marine-based natural and sustainable materials for plant growth.
Seaver said Ocean Organics has been a part of the business park since 1991, and uses “crab meal” bought dried and ground, usually from Canada, as an ingredient.
The new building will allow for the processing of crab and lobster waste locally, offering cost-saving advantages to both companies.
Seaver said there would be cooperation between Ocean Organics and the new business.
Total current employment at the business park is roughly 50 people and the other primary tenants include a rope-braiding business, a carpet pad business, and a boat interiors business.
According to information provided by Seaver, the business park consists of 60-plus acres, two large building complexes, and several smaller utility and storage buildings.
The park offers 60,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space with eight loading docks.
Less than a third of total park acreage is currently used and the area of town is defined as “industrial” in the town’s land use definitions.
