Tiny Maine town is at war over local businessman's $1BN plan to build world's tallest flagpole - that would higher than the Empire State Building

Daily Mail ^ | 7/02/23 | Harriet Alexander

[Libloather]

A tiny town in Maine has been divided by a plan to build the world's tallest flagpole, with an American flag the size of a football field and an accompanying museum and theme park.

The scheme is the brain child of a local businessman, Morrill Worcester.

Worcester's family-owned business, Worcester Wreaths, cultivates thousands of acres of balsam forest used to make wreaths for Christmas. Since 1992 he has also been donating wreaths for the tombs of American veterans, and in 2007 the charity Wreaths Across America was formed.

Worcester came up with the plan for a gigantic patriotic gesture in his home state, in the town of Columbia Falls - home to 485 people, 50 miles north east along the coast from Acadia National Park.

The town is known for blueberries, lobster fishing and being among the last pristine wildernesses on the East Coast.

But last year, Worcester unveiled his plan to build a flagpole 1,461 feet tall, rising 1,776 feet above sea level, complete with an elevator to take people to the top.

The flagpole would be taller than the Empire State Building, and give views all the way to Canada.

The $1 billion scheme would include history museums telling the country's story through veterans' eyes, plus a 4,000-seat auditorium, restaurants and monument walls with the name of every deceased veteran dating to the Revolution - 24 million names.

Worcester has named the project the Flagpole of Freedom Park, and wants to create a patriotic theme park, replete with gondolas to ferry visitors around.

It would require paving over woods for parking spaces and construction of housing for hundreds, maybe thousands of workers - potentially transforming this oasis into a sprawl of souvenir shops, fast-food restaurants and malls.

[ryderann]

“When Disney collapses, he should buy the theme parks...”

If this would be possible, it would make a lot more sense. Florida is “year-around”, where Maine tourist attractions are only good for three or four months.

[b4me]

I agree they likely are good hardworking people, but are they truly looking to glorify God? or the country? or just some idea he/family came up with themselves?

It’s a large amount of money and as others noted will need costly upkeep and may not hold up as well as hoped with the weather in that area. I am speaking of the flag pole not the whole plan of buildings even.

[BobL]

“If a large tree in high winds can crash over, then a giant flagpole with a giant flag can do the same. Tourist Trap with dangerous flagpole.”

Depends if he lets a DEI design it.

[FatherofFive]

I think I'd visit. Sounds fascinating.

The $1 billion scheme would include history museums telling the country's story through veterans' eyes, plus a 4,000-seat auditorium, restaurants and monument walls with the name of every deceased veteran dating to the Revolution - 24 million names.

[PeterPrinciple]

Doak, an army veteran, knows Morrill Worcester as a humble but determined man.

And though Worcester never served in the military, no one questions his patriotism.

Each week, Worcester stands alongside U.S. 1 waving flags alongside a group of residents, even in blizzards and rain.

Doak describes his friend as a visionary.

He pointed out that people thought Walt Disney World, built in a Florida swampland, was a crazy idea, and Mount Rushmore was outlandish. Both are now treasured.

‘I’m gonna tell you right now, he’s gonna build that flagpole,’ said Doak.

‘So why shouldn’t it be Columbia Falls?’

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from the article

[logi_cal869]

...and locate another mega flagpole there.

[PeterPrinciple]

On reflection.

1) source of $1 billion, not discussed

2) It is just an idea at this point. That is good. The more we talk about patriotism and what it means, the better. They have tried to shut us down for a long time.

Use this as a talking point, don’t get ground down in details.

[rlmorel]

I am familiar with this part of Maine. It is generally far more conservative than Southern Maine. My wife and I rented a place just North of Columbia Falls (Jonesboro) and it isn't really some kind of "unspoiled" area. It is somewhat rough and run down in the way many Maine towns seem to be overall, and I don't say that as an insult. Those who spend time in Maine know what I mean.

We were up there during the COVID BS, and I saw lots of Trump flags and signs, only a few miles from Columbia Falls.

It was wonderful. Nobody gave a crap if you wore or didn't wear a mask. If they store required it, they had a sign, and people who didn't want to go inside didn't. Very refreshing, right up my alley. Contrast with the moonbattery in Belfast, ME which is extremely Leftist (this is a bakery in that town):

We stopped there on our way home, and I was accosted by two separate groups of people for not wearing my mask, and one husband and wife who grilled me about owning a foreign car and not buying American. Who needs that crap? (If they really wanted an answer, which they didn't, I would have told them I wasn't going to buy cars from any entity that the UAW is involved in that universally backs people who hate me and my values)

Here is the main tourist attraction in Columbia Falls (besides Worcester Wreaths):

It was all shut down, even the store, but you could buy their signature blueberry pie by the slice with nice vanilla ice cream on top. I make pies from scratch, and consider myself well versed as this picture of one of my apple pies demonstrates:

I did not have any great expectations for the pie, honestly. I thought it would be "diner pie" at best (which is often not bad). But it was wholly the best slice of Blueberry Pie I have ever eaten, hands down. Just superb.

Point is, the very people I suspect who are fighting this are likely the same people who would fight anything that uses concrete, power, and provides jobs, such as these two, and are at heart, Antifa types of Leftist scumbags with BLM, "In This Home", "Resist", and "Support Ukraine" signs on their front lawns:

"...This is the last wilderness on the East Coast,' said Marie Emerson, whose husband, Dell, is a longtime blueberry farmer and university research farm manager. The pair of them are against the scheme. Charlie Robbins, another local, told AP he was opposed to the plan. 'It's like putting the Eiffel Tower in the Maine wilderness,' he said. 'It's just different than my vision. I hunt and fish the area. I don't like the crowds. It's kind of selfish, but that's the way I feel.' Jeff Greene, a contractor and one of the town Select Board's three members, said the scale of the project took people aback. 'Most people were, let's say, shocked to see that it was that large,' he said...

In March, residents overwhelmingly approved a six-month moratorium on large developments to give the town time to develop the needed rules and regulations. Worcester himself has not commented on the controversy. But Peter Doak said he thought it was a good idea. He said he objected to one resident telling a town meeting she didn't like the idea of waking up each morning and looking out her window to see a giant flagpole. 'That didn't sit too well with me,' said Doak. 'To say that the flagpole with the United States flag on it is an eyesore, I don't particularly like it. But they don't mind looking out the window at cellphone towers or the windmills.' He added: 'Maybe one day we'll wake up to the hammer and sickle flying up there.'

That last part about the cellphone towers of windmills (and I should add, solar panel farms) is spot on.

[Mogger]

Wait ‘til the Somali muslims get a political foothold

Just a matter of time.

They sent out scouts around the country seeking where to move to for the best welfare and benefits.

Lewiston/Auburn, Maine.

It is overrun with them now.

Fortunately, Maine is a big state, so far one can avoid them.

[New Perspective]

He has done more for Maine and veterans across the globe than you ever have.

Maybe YOU should put YOUR weight behind removing RCV.

[gundog]

Been there a couple if times, but it was a stop, not a destination.

[Deplorable American1776]

Mr. Worcester is a common sense guy, but this needs to be closer to Portland. It is already built up...

[Deplorable American1776]

The town where my parents had a summer home was about 40 miles from Portland. One of my friends there, his dad was the fire ranger for the area. His dad told us about the Great Maine fire of 1947.

Another friend of ours was the son of the mill owner. Nice people outside of the liberal areas. They want to be left alone. People think New Englanders are liberal, but I believe they are more libertarian than liberal.

[Vermont Lt]

Kind of ridiculous for a place in the middle of nowhere.

I would not want that thing looming over my summer/winter cabin.

I love my country and my flag. This is over the top and grotesque.

[Vermont Lt]

If you remove people who are LGBTQ from the staff at theme parks, you will lose half your staff…and half of those remaining would be closeted.

If you honestly believe these places have recently been overrun, you don’t understand who works in the hospitality and entertainment arts.

[Vermont Lt]

The fact that there is very little there is why it doesn’t need a huge penis like structure jutting up from the earth.

One might think the people who live there might have a say.

[Vermont Lt]

But no one wants more people up there.

Yes they are conservative folks. But they are also pretty private. They don’t like the tourists who come up there and act all touristy.

[Sirius Lee]

it doesn’t need a huge penis like structure jutting

Which one upsets you/makes you feel more inadequate? The penis or the jutting?

[Vermont Lt]

I ran a call center in Lewiston. I was approached by the Somali NGO to hire some for my center. They had some statements about our new friends: They did not see time in the same ways as Americans, so they might be late or take breaks out of turn. They didn’t all speak English. They did not adopt well to women in supervisory positions.

Now, call centers were about 95% female; we had to communicate in clear English (we were in finance), and call centers are probably one of the most time and performance measured career as person could choose.

I was there with two of my female VPs. One of them literally did a spit take during the meeting. I never laughed so much as I did in that car ride back to Portland.

[Vermont Lt]

That’s funny. My work has been more than adequate for the past forty years or so.