ROCKLAND — The Maine Lighthouse Museum of Rockland hasn’t been able to pays its bills, according to Finance Director Tom Luttrell, reporting to the Rockland City Council March 2, and now the condominium association that manages 1 Park Drive is trying to determine next steps for the entire building.

The museum is located at 1 Park Drive, along with two other condominium suites, the Rockland Police Department and the offices of the Maine Lobster Festival. The three entities — City of Rockland plus the two nonprofits — together own the building. The condominium arrangement requires each of the three tenants to pay its own mortgage. The three tenants created a condo association for the building, with each contributing fees to the association fund for maintenance.

The condo fees are to cover heat, water, other utilities and insurance, as well as upkeep of the lawn and driveways. But the Museum hasn’t paid since 2009, two years after acquiring the space once the Shore Museum dissolved in 2007.

According to Luttrell, 16,000 visitors tour the museum each year, viewing U.S. Coast Guard and city-owned marine items on display there. The $4 per person admission hasn’t managed to penetrate the accumulated $150,000 debt. 

Councilor Larry Pritchett said: ”Will [Clayton] and I have heard this story every couple of years now for four years. This may be a more severe version, but the version is not getting any better with age.”

Pritchett said it is time to take a next step, even if it means the city being a party to forcing the museum out of business, or to another location.

The City, because of its vested interested in the police station downstairs, as well as its stewardship of items inside the museum, has been using municipal resources to pay the extra costs.

The condo association, which receives the dues and rent from the tenants, cannot heat the building anymore, or pay for water or sewage. 

As a result, Luttrell has asked the Council for support in redeeming money for the city. 

“The way I would design this would be to put a receivable on our books and a payable on the condo association, so when they do get money, we get our investment back,” said Luttrell.

Luttrell referred to a burst pipe incident, which occurred in the museum’s suite earlier this winter. The water then seeped to the police department below.

Councilor Valli Geiger referred to the building as an asset for the city.

“Our police department is there, It’s a fabulous building in a great location,” she said. “It sounds like one of the tenants is in the process of being foreclosed on. I think it would be an opportunity for the city to make sure that we don’t lose that asset. That we take over their part of it if we need to.”

The city is using $40,000 in capital funding to install a new boiler system for the building. 

“The expenses are so high because the boiler system is so old,” Luttrell said. “We’re spending $1,300 every week and a half.”

Geiger and Pritchett will be exploring further options on the subject. They will involve the Lobster Festival in their brainstorming, at the suggestion of Councilor Louise MacLellan-Ruf. In the meantime, the city awaits results of the museum’s March 2 meeting with its bank.

Camden National Bank is the keeper of the condominium association’s (1 Park St.) mortgages.