For the past 42 years, Lyman-Morse, based in Thomaston, Maine, has been building boats ranging from carbon-fiber racing sailboats to luxurious Down East powerboats, creating a mix of cutting-edge technology and traditional craftsmanship.
Lately, Lyman-Morse has been expanding, building a boutique hotel in Rockland, for example, and edging into custom home design. Now, it’s almost ready to open its redevelopment along the Camden waterfront, with a mix of restaurants, retail shops and gallery spaces for local craftspeople. The Camden redevelopment is almost complete, and is scheduled to open in June.
Lyman-Morse actually has owned the Camden waterfront property since 2015 and had not particularly planned to rebuild it. But in 2020, a fire caused extensive damage to the series of connected buildings there that housed some Lyman-Morse offices, a restaurant and a distillery.
Now, the redevelopment represents about 33,000 square feet of marine service and commercial space. Each area is designed to evoke the historic buildings that lined Camden’s waterfront in the 19th and early 20th centuries. When it reopens, the development is expected to be an example of a contemporary working waterfront.
One of the new sites will be occupied by Barren’s Restaurant, run by the people behind the Blue Barren Distillery. The Distillery opened at the site in 2019, but moved to a blueberry farm in Hope, Maine, after the fire.
The new Barren’s in Camden will have locally made spirits as well as blueberry products, plus a storefront where people can buy spirits and other local products, including candles and soap. The restaurant itself will have a pub-style menu plus seafood options; there will be 100 seats, an indoor-outdoor bar, and a courtyard.
The second restaurant, called Salt Wharf, is ready to open in June, and will specialize in seafood with a raw bar. It also will have a regular bar on its rooftop, providing spectacular views of the harbor. Read more:
