History and culture museum begins work on a new home in Lewiston [Video]

LEWISTON — More than 15 years after the idea first arose, the transformation of a deserted, rather forlorn old mill into a sparkling $14 million centerpiece for the community’s culture and history is underway.

“We’re doing the early enabling work,” Rachel Ferrante, the executive director of the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor, said Thursday. In other words, crews are cleaning and stabilizing the building so the real construction can get started in about six weeks.

Plans call for transforming the 14,000-square-foot remnant of the once-mighty Camden Yarns Mill in time to open in the summer of 2026. It will also include a new addition that adds about 50% more space to the museum.

The new addition includes a Bates Mill bedspread design made with rivets that will include lighting so it can be seen at night, she said.

Ferrante said a groundbreaking ceremony will likely take place in January or February.

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