Carrie Jones

Mar 07, 2026

MOUNT DESERT—Acadia National Park hopes to take ownership of Dane Farm, a parcel of land currently owned by Friends of Acadia that provides housing to park employees.

“Ultimately, the park is looking for an expression of support for the park’s acquisition of this,” Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider told the Mount Desert Selectboard, March 2.

Town Manager Alex Kimball explained to the selectboard that it was an opportunity to discuss and ask questions of Schneider about Dane Farm and what’s coming up with them and Friends of Acadia (FOA).

“This is a parcel that Friends of Acadia acquired in 2023 and built. It’s an inholding within the boundary of Acadia National Park. FOA built a five-bedroom housing unit, a three-bedroom housing unit on the site, for our employee housing and we’ve used it successfully,” Schneider said. “The construction was completed last spring. We used it this past year for employee housing. We had eight critical seasonal employees living there, folks like custodians, search and rescue rangers, equipment operators, interpreters that work in our visitor center, education, maintenance.”

The site is along the Jordan Pond Road across from the cemetery.

“It’s a site that was owned by the Rockefeller family for many years. It was kind of known as, I think we called it, the Quarry Lot. They had a gravel quarry that was used for their maintenance of their carriage roads. And when that was function was no longer necessary, they sold it to FOA. FOA acquired it and built those two housing units on it,” Schneider said.

During community engagements about the project, Schneider said, they realized that delivery vehicles heading to Jordan Pond House were disruptive. As a result, those vehicles were directed to use the Stanley Brook Road instead.

“Just like all other entities, you know, we need employee housing. Employee housing is critical for us to house our workforce. We need to hire as many as 150 summer seasonals to run the National Park,” Schneider said.

People cannot work when they do not have housing. Schneider had said at the Dane Farm groundbreaking in October 2024 that the park has lately only filled 115 of 175 positions because of housing needs.

Senator Angus King echoed those statements and spoke of how in the state of Maine the housing stock is short approximately 84,000 units. Workers are recruited, he said, and they want jobs in Maine, but then can’t find places to live in Maine.

“That’s a problem,” Senator King said, “for the economy.”

Wages based on federal criteria and factors as well as the local cost of living combine to make the housing situation especially tough for park employees.

The Dane Farm site along with the Harden Farm site (near the Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor) are critical to the park’s employee housing plan.

In December 2025, the National Park Service announced that it had awarded contracts to finish Harden Farm’s employee housing. A $3.4 million contract connects the site to the town of Bar Harbor’s sewer system, which has necessitated work along the Cromwell Harbor Road. Another $7.4 million is for the construction of 28 additional bedrooms. This is in addition to 28 bedrooms that began construction in 2024.

The Harden Farm already housed eight bedrooms. Those have been there since 1960.

The eight bedrooms at Dane Farm in Seal Harbor are for seasonal employees. The former Kingsleigh Inn in Southwest Harbor is also seasonal park employee housing. Both are recent developments in park housing, occurring in 2024 and 2023.

“Seasonal employees are essential to operating the park and providing visitor services in the park from May to November,” said Schneider at the time of the Kingsleigh purchase. “Last year, we were not able to fill all of our available seasonal positions largely because of the lack of housing options in and around Acadia. By expanding housing options, the Kingsleigh property will increase our capacity to recruit and retain seasonal staff members. We are incredibly grateful to Friends of Acadia for helping to support this need.”

At a June 2025 Acadia Advisory Commission meeting, Schneider had said that according to a recent study done by the National Park Foundation, two-thirds of Acadia’s year-round workforce does not earn enough to buy a home within 60 minutes of the park.

Friends of Acadia President Eric Stiles thanked past town manager Durlin Lunt and Mount Desert Public Works Director Brian Henkel for their input during the building and planning process.

Stiles also said a goal was to have the Dane Farm housing blend in with the area.

“We didn’t chop a tree; we’ve added trees to that site,” Stiles said. “I think working with the park, we’re trying to make sure that we don’t compete with the local market. So, by buying this holding within the park, we’re adding units rather than competing with other employers in the area to try and provide these solutions.”

A member of the public asked if the parcel currently pays property taxes. It does. When the property is transferred, it would not. Instead, Schneider said, it would pay a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), which is not a full property tax rate.

Selectboard member Rodney King said after the men’s presentation. “I’ve got an issue. The last time I had a meeting with you, we were talking and this is Otter Creek, but it’s still in town. I said to you that everything you do down there affects a whole village full of people. You told me you’re not one bit concerned about that whole village full of people. You still feel like that?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure when that was,” Schneider said.

During Durlin Lunt’s last years as town manager, he had focused on Otter Creek and trying to restore the working waterfront of Otter Creek.

“Three of us met with you, and when you said that, I asked you for a for a copy of the recording of the meeting, and you told me you don’t record them, which you do or not. I didn’t get one,” King said.

“I certainly recognize the park works within the context of communities and we do that in all of the communities that we’re in, whether it’s Mount Desert or Bar Harbor,” Schneider said. “We want to be a good neighbor and work with folks to resolve the issues that we see. It’s certainly very important to me and I’m always happy to address any concerns that the selectboard may have. I’ve enjoyed working with Alex over the last couple of months and Durlin (Lunt) beforehand. Certainly, if there’s issues, I’m happy to always be open and available to talk about it.”

Along with the housing sites on Mount Desert Island, friends of Acadia purchased six townhomes on the Jordan River Road which are being used primarily as housing for Island Explorer drivers.

Friends of Acadia plans to donate the land and buildings at Dane Farm to Acadia National Park.

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Unless otherwise specified, photos are file photos from the Bar Harbor Story.