POLAND – If developer Joe Cimino has his way, a bank, a food store and a sports shop will be among the new businesses at the site of the former Wayside Inn and Restaurant.

Cimino bought the property recently, and loggers are already clearing the 13 acres on Route 26 near the Poland Spring Inn.

“I’m going to sink millions into this,” Cimino said. “Everything is at risk here. But the business tax base in Poland is small, and if I can bring in five to six businesses, I will have accomplished something; I will have added to the business tax base of Poland.”

Cimino plans to develop the lot into a retail mall-type complex, with businesses that could potentially employ 50 to 75 people. His vision is to have a woodsy, outdoor look to the mall, “perhaps with open beams and a pond in front,” he said.

Plans have yet to be drawn up, and he is “open to whatever,” he said, but he’s hoping to attract a bank, a grocery and a sportsmen’s shop offering gear for fishing, hunting and other outdoor recreation.

“One person suggested a dry cleaner,” Cimino said, adding that whatever business it is, it needs to fit into the parameters of the town’s village business zone and be geared to travelers.

The local population of about 5,000 and the traffic volume of about 16,000 cars per day make the site and its 1,200 feet of frontage ideal for retail development, Cimino said.

In addition, he expects more traffic along Route 26 once the new bypass on the Maine Turnpike opens allowing motorists to go directly onto Route 26 without going through Gray.

The project is still in the conception stage and has yet to go before the Planning Board, but Cimino said he doesn’t anticipate any problem getting approval. The rezoning of the area about five years ago from village historical to village business allows for this type of development.

“I hope the people of Poland will see this as a contribution to the community,” he said. “The Poland Spring Inn is important economically to the health of Poland. Whatever goes in here needs to complement the hotel, Poland Spring bottling company and, to some extent, the Jolly Farmer and other surrounding businesses.”

The structure that once housed the Wayside Restaurant was demolished last week after sitting empty for more than 35 years. The old Wayside Inn remains standing, and although Cimino is not sure what the building will become, he currently plans to restore it.

“I plan to tear off the porch and rebuild it to fit the period of the original home,” Cimino said, adding that the existing porch was added when the building was used as a private home with an in-law apartment. He hopes to keep the existing hardwood floors and fireplace, complete with lions’ heads on each side beneath the mantel, he said.

Cimino, who has lived in Poland for 34 years, has been involved with at least four other developments in Poland: Poland Regional High School, two water bottling plants and the Village Kitchen.

He expects his new project to cost $2 million to $3 million, possibly more if a bank or other potential business chooses to lease a portion of the land instead and construct its own building.

Regardless, “A building should be under construction by spring, and the whole project will take about two years to complete,” Cimino said.