Northeast Harbor a hubbub of construction activity; Fleet Club, swim club, Asticou

NORTHEAST HARBOR, May 8, 2025 - The Asticou Hotel is not the only project with an urgent deadline.

(I still call it the Asticou Inn. The name change was not my idea.)

The town this week seemed to be awash with hundreds of construction workers who outnumbered residents in presence while Main Street stayed locked in its winter slumber.

Case in point: The Fleet - Northeast Harbor’s private yacht club - is in its stretch run to completing its renovation to fortify its clubhouse and deck against future storms while giving the place a makeover. See Video:

According to Code Enforcement Officer Kim Keene, the yacht club is moving the clubhouse “back from the water, putting it on a new foundation and rebuilding the pier.”

You may view the progress on the club’s own website which has live cams of the project.

Down the road, the Northeast Harbor “Swim Club” doesn’t have the same transparency. It is the most “exclusive” club on the island. (The proper adjective is “exclusionary.”)

But it had to get Planning Board approval, just like the rest of us who abide by the town’s Land Use Ordinance.

This was the video I posted on Jan. 15, 2024 showing its devastation after two storm surges hit the island:

Kim Keene said the club is “doing a lot of work on the men's locker room which kind of cantilevers over the water.”

“They're putting in new shingles, interior finishings.

“They're putting new pilings under the building.

“They're doing a new pool equipment mechanical room.

“And then they have to elevate the building too, because of their all these buildings are below the base flood elevation. So they have to raise them all.

“They're rebuilding the shade pavilion, which is just a little like area that people sit out there to get shade. They're rebuilding the kitchen building, with the apartments above it.

“All these are being elevated, above base, flood elevation. They're rebuilding the dining pavilion. Same thing. They're raising it up. They're redoing all the decking.

“They're redoing the fresh water pool. They're doing a heated swimming pool, and then they're also rebuilding the dike that goes around the perimeter of the salt water pool.”

That’s a lot of moving parts. I tried to get a photo of the work but the swim club, unlike The Fleet, has a fence around its property so the unwashed may not glimpse into its privacy.

The big kahuna is still the Asticou Hotel.

We have 23 days until its promised day of opening on June 1.

Kim Keene waked me through the code inspection schedule for allow its opening.

The state is in charge of the electrical inspections.

“I saw him on site a few times,” Keene said of the state inspector who is charged with the hotel ensuring all the electrical wires met the National Electrical Code.

But Keene will inspect all the plumbing.

“I will check all the fixtures, make sure there're no leaks. And look at clearances.

“And look at the sinks, the toilets …

And then there is the certification need from the state fire marshal.

This is crunch time for the Asticou. The Fleet and the swim club have projected openings. But they are malleable.

The Asticou is actually booking rooms staring June 1.