ROCKLAND - “It’s kind of a mess back here right now,” says Jennifer Rockwell, surveying the piles of pallets behind 435 Main Street.

Although the building is not much to look at yet, Jennifer and her father Rick Rockwell have a vision, and renovations are well under way.

The building is four stories, including a basement, which has been dug in deeper allow for additional commercial space and the foundation for an elevator.

The plan is to put in apartments on the upper floors of the building, but that work will begin after basement level and first floor are complete.

The storefront and backside of the building are the centers of current renovations. The building housed The Store for nearly 30 years. During Prohibition the top floor was a speakeasy.

Now it is the future home of Main Street Markets. Rick Rockwell bought the building and is renovating it. Jennifer Rockwell is going to manage the business, although she’s quick to emphasize that she won’t be doing it alone.

“I will be working with a very good team of people,” Rockwell said.

Rockwell grew up summering in Maine, and her father’s family has a long history here. Her grandfather owned the Port Clyde Sardine Packing Company.

Her background is in marketing and public relations. Before coming back to Maine, Rockwell had been working in Manhattan at a cooking school. She says she’s bringing her passion for food to the market.

Rockwell was happy to relocate to Spruce Head.

“It’s a much nicer place to be than New York,” She said, with a laugh. “I feel a strong connection to Maine, Maine products, Maine businesses. There’s such a strong food community here, which makes me feel like it’s a place that I should belong.”

As she walks through the open floor plan of first floor retail space, she explains her and her father’s plan for the business.

“In this space we’re going to have as diverse a selection of grocery products as possible while keeping it as local as possible,” Rockwell said.

The selection will include produce, frozen food, jams and honey, snacks and possibly prepared food from local restaurants. There will also be a salad café where people can buy juice, smoothies, and fresh salads made with local products.

“We want this project to be something that benefits everybody,” Rockwell said. “The little farmer that makes honey, or makes blueberry jam, and has a sign at the end of the driveway, ‘blueberry jam for sale.’ We want to market those businesses and help them thrive. We want to bring them to Main Street and let their brand be known in the state.”

She plans to market local foods online, as well, through an e-commerce site.

Part of the storefront space has been set aside as a pop-up shop. Pop-up shops are commercial spaces that small businesses can rent for a limited time, weekly or monthly or seasonally.

“It kind of gives those small businesses a chance to display their products on Main Street, without the risk of investing in a space,” Rockwell said. “It’s a good trial for businesses.”

In some ways, the biggest plans are for the back of the building, with its pile of pallets and fixtures removed during renovation. Rockwell points out an old wooden staircase and says that they are trying to save as much of what they pull out of the building as possible. The staircase, she suggests, could one day be used as a display.

While the back of the building is not much to look at yet, the Rockwells plan to extend the narrow back patio and put a façade on the back wall. The goal is to make the basement entrance inviting. Rockwell says they want customers who park out back and come in through the renovated lowest floor, which may become the meat and fish market, to feel welcome.

“It’s maximizing the usable space that we have. There’s so much potential back here,” Rockwell said.

Two buildings over 3 Crow, a restaurant located in another main street building Rick Rockwell bought and renovated, added a small outdoor seating area to the back of their building.

Jennifer Rockwell points across a fence toward the ferry terminal and says that the market will be the only grocery store within easy walking distance of the terminal and the harbor. People coming to Rockland for the day might walk off the ferry and right over to the market to do their shopping.

Gordon Page, Sr., executive director of Rockland Main Street, Inc., is positive about the options Main Street Markets will add.

“It’s going to be unique for downtown Rockland, and it’s going to be something that I think a lot of people will appreciate,” Page said.

The building is old, so work has to go forward carefully, Rockwell says. Because of the scale of the project, she estimates they will be finished next spring, and ready to open before next summer.

Right now, Rockwell is working on securing suppliers. Interested local businesses can send an introduction to their product to info@mainstreetmarkets.com.