LEWISTON — A pizza parlor and pub at Harvest Hill Farm in Mechanic Falls are expected to close their doors, casualties of a 2014 haunted hayride accident on the property that killed a 17-year-old girl.
The owners posted Wednesday on their Facebook page that the last day of business for Farm House Pizza and The Hayloft Pub will be Saturday.
In a posting aimed at “Our awesome fans, friends, visitors, vendors and especially our employees,” the Bolduc family wrote that, “the fallout from the accident nearly two years ago proved to be (too) complicated to successfully navigate.”
The post went on to say that the family had “put everything we had into renovating the farm and building the business.”
Peter Bolduc Jr.’s corporation, Andover Covered Bridge LLC, which owned the property that is home to Harvest Hill Farm and the two businesses that are closing, filed for bankruptcy last year and again this summer. The property, which also owed taxes to the town, was sold at auction in late July to the holders of the two mortgages for a total of $1 million.
The property includes The Gauntlet, a haunted hayride trail through woods at the back of the land where the Oct. 11, 2014 fatal accident occurred. The property also includes Pumpkin Land, a seasonal children’s venue.
The Bolducs were also in default of a loan by Tomi Chipman Inc., which sold its Pumpkin Land business to the couple in 2009, according to Androscoggin County Superior Court records. The sale included the business name, signs and equipment.
Bolduc and his wife, Kathie, face foreclosure of their family home at 260 Megquier Hill and Russell roads in Poland.
In addition to its business woes, Harvest Hill Farm was charged criminally in connection to the accident with manslaughter, aggravated assault, driving to endanger and reckless driving. The company faces more than $100,000 in possible fines. Bolduc was not charged with any crimes stemming from the accident.
The family of Cassidy Charette of Oakland recently filed a wrongful death action against Bolduc and two others, the driver of the Jeep involved in the accident and the mechanic who had worked on the vehicle. Both are charged with misdemeanor crimes. The Charette family’s civil case will be heard in Kennebec County Superior Court.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
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