LIMESTONE, Maine — A house on the Access Highway in Limestone was taken off its foundation and transported two miles down the road Friday morning to make room for construction of a new Dollar General store.
The building, owned by Joline Rossignol of Limestone, was moved just two miles down the road by James Cote, a local contractor, after Rossignol was unable to find someone willing to haul it about 30 miles to Mapleton.
Rossignol said she and her family were approached by Dollar General last year about either demolishing or relocating the home.
“Dollar General approached us and we said, ‘Why not?’” she recalled.
Rossignol is moving to Mapleton and had made plans with another contractor to move the house to a plot of land there, but the deal fell apart “at the last minute,” she said.
Luckily, Rossignol said she found out that Cote was interested in both acquiring and moving the house. Cote was not immediately available to say what his plans for the building are.
“He was crazy enough to do it,” she said. “We didn’t want to see it destroyed, and we were having trouble finding people around here to haul it to Mapleton for us. I’m just glad it didn’t have to be torn down.”
Currently, the house is sitting near Cote’s business, Cote’s Auto, on the Access Highway.
“It’s in his hands now,” said Rossignol.
Limestone Interim Town Manager Tom Stevens said he thinks the “town is very pleased” with the addition of Dollar General to the community, and that he looks forward to “working closely with them to the day they open and thereafter.”
In addition to Cote and the Rossignols, local police were on the scene blocking off traffic while Emera Maine ensured that wires running along the road were unscathed during the process.
Limestone Police Chief Stacey Mahan said the department was asked by Dollar General officials to help escort the contractors as they moved the building, and that they requested it be moved before June 11.
He added that while he is not exactly sure when construction of the store will begin, he thinks it will commence “pretty quick” now that the building is moved.
Rossignol is currently renting in Limestone while she prepares for the move to Mapleton. While she is glad the house was not destroyed, she said it’s “bittersweet” to lose a home she and her family spent “a few years” remodeling.
“I’m glad someone will be able to have it,” she said. “They’ll have a great story to tell.”
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- Contractor James Cote moves a house two miles down the Access Highway in Limestone Friday morning to make way for construction of a new Dollar General store later this year. He moved the building to a spot next to his shop, Cote’s Auto, on the same road. (Christopher Bouchard)
