Dear Editor:

A suggestion for our selectmen and Paul Coulombe. Alas, one of the great year-round treasures of the community, the Harbor Movie Theatre, is being forced to close at its present site. Please consider using the taxpayer’s 1.3 million dollars and the current land adjacent to the town commons designated as the site of a shopping mall for the construction of a new movie theater and arts center, designed to embody New England architecture and Boothbay values.

Jason Sheckley, one of our long-term benefactors, having devoted decades to bringing cinema to the community, might be put in charge of the new movie theater. A gallery exclusively showing the best of the art and crafts of the community, representing local artists on a rotating basis, should be included. That, the movie theater, a coffee shop, a parking area, extensive beautification, and nothing more should fill the site. It would be open year-round. There would be no heavy traffic and no need for a roundabout.Alternative (and less costly) improvements could be made to the current Corey Lane/Route 27 intersection. Ordinary stop signs could control traffic in and out of Route 27/Townsend Avenue to the new site. The new construction would be semi-park like, visually almost an extension of the commons, which it would abut. It would be aesthetically pleasing and contribute to creating a gateway to the area. It could be named the "Paul Coulombe Theater and Arts Center." It would be a distinctive attraction to his country club visitors. My guess is that Boothbay public opinion and Boothbay voters would approve.

Fred Kaplan

Boothbay