Current:Home > Contact-usMaine family gives up on proposal to honor veterans with the world’s tallest flagpole-LoTradeCoin
Maine family gives up on proposal to honor veterans with the world’s tallest flagpole
View Date:2024-12-23 16:58:18
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine (AP) — The family behind an audacious plan to build the world’s tallest flagpole as the centerpiece of a billion-dollar development honoring veterans in rural Down East Maine is abandoning the idea, an attorney said Friday.
The Worcester family won’t pursue the flagpole project in Washington County or elsewhere for the time being and will look instead for other ways to commemorate those who have served, lawyer Timothy Pease said.
“They believed this project was a good project to honor veterans. But now they’re looking for new ways to honor veterans in the future,” Pease said.
The proposal unveiled two years ago has divided the town of Columbia Falls, population 485, and residents are preparing to vote next month on proposed zoning ordinances governing large-scale development. A flagpole stretching 1,461 feet (445 meters) skyward wouldn’t meet the height restrictions contained in the proposal, which came out of several public sessions after residents voted to put the brakes on the project, said Jeff Greene, a member of the Board of Selectmen.
“We didn’t create ordinances to take down the flagpole project. We created ordinances to give the community control of their community,” Greene said Friday evening after learning of the developers’ decision, which was first reported by the Maine Monitor.
The towering pole would’ve been taller than the Empire State Building, topped with an American flag bigger than a football field and visible on a clear day from miles (kilometers) away.
But the original proposal called for much more than just that. The developers envisioned a village with living history museums, a 4,000-seat auditorium, restaurants and a sprawling monument with the names of every veteran who has died since the American Revolution — about 24 million in all.
The plan also called for elevators to bring people to observation decks from where they would be able to see all the way to Canada.
“It’s like putting the Eiffel Tower in the Maine wilderness,” a resident once said.
The Worcester family — which is behind Worcester Wreath Co. and Wreaths Across America, which provide hundreds of thousands of wreaths to military cemeteries and gravesites around the world — touted the project as away to unite people and honor veterans.
The project also would’ve brought much-needed jobs to a region that’s long on natural beauty and short on economic development, they said.
Pease said the Worcesters remain committed to the original aims behind the project: “The family is absolutely devoted to honoring veterans, and they’ll find ways to do that in the future.”
veryGood! (6681)
Related
- Michelle Obama Is Diving Back into the Dating World—But It’s Not What You Think
- Digging to rescue 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India halted after machine breaks
- Playing in the Dirty (NFC) South means team can win the division with a losing record
- Here's how much shoppers plan to spend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- 'Joker 2' actor pans DC sequel as the 'worst film' ever: 'It has no plot'
- Republicans want to pair border security with aid for Ukraine. Here’s why that makes a deal so tough
- Congolese Nobel laureate kicks off presidential campaign with a promise to end violence, corruption
- Stray dogs might be euthanized due to overcrowding at Georgia animal shelters
- Nicole Scherzinger receives support from 'The View' hosts after election post controversy
- These Secrets About the Twilight Franchise Will Be Your Life Now
Ranking
- Elton John Details Strict Diet in His 70s
- Destiny's Child Has Biggest Reunion Yet at Beyoncé’s Renaissance Film Premiere
- 2 teens shot, suspect arrested at downtown Cleveland plaza after annual tree-lighting ceremony
- Secrets You Never Knew About Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time
- New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage
- Why we love Wild Book Company: A daughter's quest to continue her mother's legacy
- WWE Survivor Series WarGames 2023 live results: CM Punk returns, highlights from Chicago
- Texas A&M aiming to hire Duke football's Mike Elko as next head coach, per reports
Recommendation
-
Glen Powell Addresses Rumor He’ll Replace Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible Franchise
-
Israel-Hamas war rages with cease-fire delayed, Israeli hostage and Palestinian prisoner families left to hope
-
One of world’s largest icebergs drifting beyond Antarctic waters after it was grounded for 3 decades
-
Christopher Luxon sworn in as New Zealand prime minister, says priority is to improve economy
-
Who will be in the top 12? Our College Football Playoff ranking projection
-
Milroe’s TD pass to Bond on fourth-and-31 rescues No. 8 Alabama in 27-24 win over Auburn
-
Black Women Face Disproportionate Risks From Largely Unregulated Toxic Substances in Beauty and Personal Care Products
-
An alliance of Myanmar ethnic groups claim capture of another big trade crossing at Chinese border