GARDINER — Each time Marc Lassen drove past the fire-ravaged building that used to house Wild Birds Unlimited, he didn’t see a burned out shell. He saw opportunity.
“It was pure potential,” Lassen said.
A self-employed craftsman and designer from Blyn, Lassen took hold of that opportunity, rebuilding the gift, garden and backyard birding store, which is now re-opened for business.
“The community support has been overwhelming,” Lassen said. “So many people have stopped by and said, ‘We love the store and are so glad you’re reopening.”‘
When Lassen bought the business in June 2002, the building had been abandoned for more than two years, after a fire gutted the interior and destroyed most of the roof.
Using the cinderblock walls and concrete floor as a starting point, Lassen, with the help of his father, Keith Lassen, designed and rebuilt the store, adding gables to a pitched roof and replacing an apartment on the upper floor.
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The rest of the story appears in Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News.