BREWER (AP) – A Minneapolis investor has proposed putting tens of millions of dollars into the former Eastern Fine Paper mill and filling it with restaurants and bars, offices and condominiums, maybe even a museum.

Michael Stern announced Monday that he wants to spend at least $32 million over several years to restore the 400,000 square-foot mill, which closed a year ago after more than three years in federal bankruptcy protection.

Stern said he has been in negotiations with two possible tenants, a restaurant and a boutique, for the site, nicknamed “The Mill at Penobscot Landing.” The restaurant may be constructed and open while the rest of the development goes on around it, he said.

Stern met Tuesday with Gov. John Baldacci and other state officials to discuss funding options for environmental restoration and cleanup projects. Stern said he understands that his plans will be a tough sell for former mill workers who are still bitter.

“Some people will be unhappy that it’s not a paper mill,” Stern said. “They’ll always want a paper mill. (Manufacturing’s) just not there anymore.”

Brewer Mayor Joseph Ferris gave Stern a framed aerial photograph of Eastern Fine taken in the 1980s and asked him to hang it up somewhere in the site once the renovation is complete.

“We can look back and compare what you’ve done locally,” Ferris said. “When somebody from away wants to come into your community and spend millions of dollars, the first thing you want to do is say, Thank you.”‘

By the end of February, Stern plans to be close to completing his plans and then will sign a lease with South Brewer Redevelopment Corp. LLC, the holding company created to own and operate the mill.

The company will own the mill for five or 10 years so that the city has access to federal and state grants for environmental cleanup projects that a private owner would not, according to SBR co-director D’Arcy Main-Boyington.

Construction is expected to begin this summer and the completion of the first phase of the project to be around December 2006, Stern said.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-01-18-05 1401EST