100 years ago, 1917
The price of coal in Lewiston and Auburn hasn’t been increased from $12 a ton cash at retail. There’s a story around town that the coal committee has unofficially suggested to the dealers that it wouldn’t be wise to send the price any higher at present. The price has been regulated to $10 in Augusta, and coal is selling for $10 in Bangor.

50 years ago, 1967
Construction of the first phase of a now, 275,000-square-foot Lewiston shopping center is expected to get underway in the spring, Robert Rosenthal said today. The center is to be known as the Lewiston Mall Shopping Center. Rosenthal said a W. T. Grant store, covering 83,000 square feet, will be the feature of the first phase of the Lisbon Street center. The store will be the largest in Maine, he said. Beside the Grant store, there’ll be a Shaw’s supermarket utilizing 25,000 square feet of space and a Twin Cinema, 12,000 square feet.

25 years ago, 1992
Options for the future of the town-owned former Marcal Mill and the former Elms Hotel property, owned by the Mechanic Falls Development Commission, were discussed in a public forum at the Mechanic Falls Town Council meeting Monday evening. No decisions were made as to rehabilitation, but Town Manager Dana K. Lee noted that because of recent cleanup of fuel tanks and other facilities at the mill, the property is not an “environmental liability.” Council Chairman Wayne Hackett said he agreed with Lee when he said ”we might let a businessman have the mill for $1 for development if we felt that his investment there would help pay the taxes due the town.” Lee said the mill had been valued at $1.2 million four years ago, but with subsequent decay, was today worth only about $600,000.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be corrected.

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