A Po S T S C R I P T
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A Po s t s c r i p t As an arc h i te c t , F red L. S ava gewas in the right place at the right time. Fa m i ly- ow n e d l a n d , f o r t u i tous tra i n i n g , and the timing of the co t t a geeraall launched and sustained his care e r. He died as the initial burst of development wasfa d i n g , but he had lived long enough to see the beginnings of the co n s e r vation movement and the coming of auto- m o b i l e s — t wo forces that will affect life on Mount Desert for the foreseeable future . A p p rox i m a te lyseve n t y- f ive of his buildings survive in various stages of pre s e r va t i o n , and his wo rk , l i ke thatofmany of Sava ge’s peers , has re ce n t lybenefited from both a new civic awa reness of historic pre s e r vation as an aspect of tourism and a re v ivalof i n te rest in the shingle styl e . In re cent ye a rs seve ral arc h i te c t s , including Roc R. C a iva n o and Robert A. M . S te r n , h ave cre a ted shingle-style buildings on Mount Desert that are in harmony with Sava ge’s early wo rk . For twe n t y- f ive ye a rs following Sava ge’s death in 1 9 2 4, the wo rld war and the G reat Depression stifled tourism; then, almost as a coup de gra c e, on October 1 7 to N ovember 7, 1 9 4 7, a forest fire swept across the eastern side of Mount Desert, b u r n i n g 1 7,1 8 8 a c res and destroying 6 7 of 1 2 2 summer co t t a ges and 1 70of6 6 7 ye a r - ro u n d homes in BarHarb o r. When the tourist industry began to re v ive in the 1 9 50 s , it wa s based on an eve r - i n c reasing stream of short-term visito rs traveling in priva te ly ow n e d a u to m o b i l e s . Most of them came—and still co m e — toex p e r i e n ce Acadia NationalPa rk . During July and Au g u s t , up to fourteen thousand people a day cross the causeway leading onto Mount Desert. With three million annual visito rs , Acadia has become one of our most heav i ly used park s , and the number of mobile tourists has affected many aspects of the island. In his 1 904 pamphlet (see page 2 1 6) , P resident Eliot noted that different types of tourists need different service s . He also observed that public policies on the island should balance the inte rests of ye a r - round residents with the co n s e r vation of the land- scape and facilities to nurture a dive rsified tourist population. To d ay life on the island is influenced by competition between the various needs of ye a r - round re s i d e n t s , s e a- sonalorlong-term summer re s i d e n t s , t ra n s i tory to u r i s t s , and the ra n ge of co m m e rc i a l and public re s o u rces they re q u i re or desire . The rivalry between these dive r gent inte r- ests is magnified by the success of the co n s e r vation effort (the park contains almost a t h i rd of the island, or 4 5,000 acre s , and co n s e r vation easements have been placed on another 1 70parcels of priva te ly owned land). Squeezed between pre s e r ved landscape and the sea, t h e reis little space available for development; co n s e q u e n t ly, land and 2 6 2 home prices have soare d , and many wo rking families find it difficult or impossible to l ive on the island. The median home price on Mount Desert in 20 03 was $2 6 5, 0 0 0 , a n i n c rease of 8 3 p e rcent from 2000 (as co m p a red to a median price of $109,900 for the s t a te as a whole and a 20 0 0 –20 03 i n c rease of 3 6 p e rce n t ) . Many lifelong residents of Northeast Harbor claim that the cost of housing has killed Savage’s hometown as a year-round community.69 The few remaining year-round families typically drive fifteen miles to shop in nationalchain stores in Ellsworth, the nearest sizable town on the mainland. After the summer people leave, there is thus no longer enough retail business to support a pharmacy or dentist or grocery store. Throughout the winter, most of the storefronts are dark and shuttered. In summertime, on the other hand, there are several art galleries along Main Street—all in stores that formerly sold hardware, thread, soap, and other mundane but necessary merchandise. The impact of automobile-based tourism is evident all over the island. A c a d i a NationalPa rk is famous for its netwo rk of more than one hundred named trails ( totaling 1 50 miles) and 7 5 miles of carriageroads (for hors e s , h i ke rs , and bicyc l i s t s ) and scenic roads accessible to automobiles. The carriageroad system (circa 1915–1933) was funded by John D. R o c ke f e l l e r, J r. , and includes seve n teen stone bridges by the a rc h i tect Gro s venor At te rb u r y. The volume of traffic has nece s s i t a ted the deve l o p m e n t of parkingare a s , rest ro o m s , g u a rd ra i l s , d e s i g n a ted swimmingare a s , and beach acce s s p o i n t s . To acco m m o d a te campers there are 5 30 tent sites within the park and 1,7 30 m o re tent sites in priva te campgrounds on the island. In BarHarb o r, the hotels of S ava ge’s dayhave been re p l a cedby motels and inns thatto gether can acco m m o d a te as m a ny aseight thousand guests per night. During the last decade, the Chamber of C o m m e rceeffective ly pro m o ted BarHarbor as a port of call for coastal and inte r n a- tional cruise ships and a significant numbers of tourists have been arriving by seaas they did a century ago . O n lyfour ships stopped in BarHarbor in 1 9 90 , but in 20 04 t wenty different ships, varying in size from the American Glo ry (4 9 p a s s e n ge rs) to the QueenMary 2 (2,6 20passenge rs ) , made a totalofeighty- s e ven visits. Most dock for a d ay; this re v ivaloftheway almost eve r yone once arrived brings thousands of visito rs to walk around and shop in BarHarb o r. G rowth and efforts to influence it cre a te pro b l e m s . This is especially true in a p l a ce as finite , p o p u l a r, and env i ro n m e n t a l ly sensitive as Mount Desert. It is hearte n i n g to note thatorganizations are now wo rking to gether to balance the various inte re s t s a r t i c u l a tedby President Eliot. C i t i z e n s ’ o r ganizations like Mount Desert Island To m o r row and Friends of Acadiaare curre n t ly addressingabroad array of issues, 2 6 3 opposite: Beehive, Acadia National Park includingaffordable housing,wa ter quality and solid wa s te manage m e n t , co m m u n i t y following spread: Shoreline, h e a l t h , p ro g rams for young people, d ive rsification of the eco n o my, and tra n s p o r t a t i o n . Acadia National Park The pre s s u res cre a ted by development will not go away, for the enduring beauty of Mount Desert and its env i rons will continue to draw millions. N o n e t h e l e s s , m a ny people appre c i a tethe island, and with various groups wo rking to ge t h e r, t h e re is re a s o n to hope a balance can be struck between growth and pre s e r va t i o n .