Greenville wonders what’s next after ski mountain redevelopment plan falls through

By Ari Snider, Maine Public

Plans to revitalize a Greenville-area ski mountain have gone belly-up after developers pulled the plug. Now, the mountain is for sale, and the town is hoping another group might step in.

The push to redevelop Big Moose Mountain as a year-round outdoor recreation resort has hit a number of roadblocks over the years, including some public pushback and legal issues between the mountain’s owner and the state.

Still, Greenville Town Manager Michael Roy said he was disappointed to learn over the summer that the developer was dropping the project for good. But he’s holding out hope that someone else might step in to revitalize the mountain.

“I think it would give an economic boost to the town of Greenville and the county as well, and it would provide, hopefully, year-round jobs, which would bring families to the area and actually help increase our schools’ enrollment,” Roy said.

Developer Perry Williams declined to be interviewed.

Lee Umphrey, president and CEO of Eastern Maine Development Corp., which helped back Williams’ effort, said the property is still a good opportunity.

“It could be a real destination,” he said. “So the hope is that it gets restarted and redeveloped in a way that makes sense for everybody.”

Kathleen Moneghan is with Friends of the Mountain, a volunteer group that operates the ski area.

“With it being for sale, it’s challenging to invest in long-term strategies,” she said, “without knowing that future ownership.”

Moneghan said her organization has invested about $100,000 into upkeep of the lift, lodge and trails, but does not have the funds needed to purchase the mountain outright.

Big Moose ski area is now on the market for nearly $6 million. For $27 million, you can get the mountain and an additional 3,000 acres of surrounding land.

This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.