ROCKLAND — Councilor Penny York noticed that this year’s street closure request for the annual Farnsworth Gala did not specify hours, despite all past years’ applications doing so. During the May 8 City Council meeting, York questioned the void of information. And though some in Council were quick to defend the museum’s need for time to set up and tear down, York’s question of whether the missing information was intentional or accidental was never answered.

“A few hours, we know how that works with the reciprocal nature of things, but if they need to block it off for a couple of days for setup or teardown, that would be worth knowing,” said York.

The Farnsworth Summer gala is scheduled for Friday, July 14, 2023, under a tent in the Museum parking lot.

As they have done every year, the Farnsworth recently requested a closure for a portion of Museum Street so that people can walk between the museum and the event without crossing traffic. In previous years, the closure was for the duration of the gala only. This year, the Farnsworth requested a weeklong street closure, and in doing so, has generated a few more questions for Council.

Museum Street is a unique street. As City Clerk Stuart Sylvester said, it’s really half a street.

“Coming from Main Street to Museum Street, from Union, you veer through their parking lot, which they have control over,” said City Manager Tom Luttrell. “They can close it whenever they wish. And, if they decide to start setting up their tents on Monday, if you turn on to Museum Street from Union Street, you’re not going to have anywhere to go because you have to go through their parking lot to get back out.”

Still, it was the question of specific hours that generated the postponement of Council vote until May 10, when members happened to be meeting again for another reason.

“I would personally feel more comfortable voting on this if it had the time frame on it, even if it’s just midnight to midnight,” said Councilor Sarah Austin, during the May 8 meeting. (Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf was quick to tell Councilor Austin that the event will extend past midnight.)

During the May 10 meeting, Councilors were told that though the Farnsworth would like the entire week, they could still manage if the street closure started on Wednesday at the latest. For that, Councilor Austin expressed appreciation of the Farnsworth’s willingness to be flexible. She then proposed an amendment to permit a Tuesday closure. That amendment was voted on 4 – 1 (MacLellan-Ruf). The Council then returned to the initial request, newly amended, at which point the Council again voted 4 – 1 (MacLellan-Ruf) to allow the street closure.

Mayor MacLellan-Ruf did not provide any opinions in either the May 8 or the May 10 meetings. However, MacLellan-Ruf provided the following to the Pen Bay Pilot:

The Farnsworth museum had requested an extra day for closure and set up. I supported this extra day.
I did not support Councilor Austin’s request to shorten the time the Farnsworth Museum closed the street. Thus my vote no. Supporting the extra day was my support for all that the Farnsworth Museum brings to Rockland. An extra day was reasonable considering they own the parking lot where the gala event is held.
Generally, I don’t respond to any misrepresentation of my votes. In this case, paying attention to the details matters.
We are the Art Capital of Maine; possibly the Art Capital of the United States of America. Voting to support the arts? Always a win.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com