Bangor’s Newest Museum Aims To Make Big Splash With Big Foot Display And More When It Opens In May

In under a month, Bangor's newest museum will open its doors, and folks are already excited to take a look at the many treasures and oddities it holds.

It's been a project almost 5 years in the making, but it looks like the time has finally come for the International Cryptozoology Museum to open its new location on Broadway in Bangor.

Read More: Bangor To Be New Base For Old Portland Cryptozoology Museum

For months, volunteers have been loading in boxes of items and unpacking them to put them out for folks to eventually view.

Museum Director Loren Coleman, who has run the museum for almost a quarter of a century now, first in two locations in southern Maine and now in the new Bangor location, says everyone involved in the effort is very excited to show visitors from near and far the new space.

He shared some thoughts on the museum's Facebook page recently.

"We’re getting so close to opening at our new, much larger home in Bangor - we can’t wait to open the world’s oldest and largest Cryptozoology Museum right here in Maine’s Queen City!... Looks like mid-May is our best estimate for our initial soft opening to the public! See you soon at 490 Broadway!"

They're also in the process of hiring staff for the museum.

According to the website, people can expect to see a variety of interesting things once the doors are opened.

"We have a wide range of exhibitions from rare, one-of-a-kind scientific, zoological specimens to popular cultural homages to the relevant anthropological and psychological acknowledgements of the sightings and folk traditions to be found within hominology and cryptozoology. As part of our scientific and educational mission, we preserve native art and contemporary souvenirs. Your admissions, donations, and gift store purchases keep us open."

Coleman says they're just waiting on one final permit and some work to be done outside of the building to the entryway and in the area of the parking lot before he can officially open the space.

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He says while the soft opening is slated for May, the plan is to hold a grand opening reception on July 11th, with speakers and guests and a special celebration honoring founding members of the International Cryptozoology Museum (ICY founders, as he calls them).

"As a thank you to new members, we’re hosting a very special ICM Founders Club Members-Only Grand Opening Reception and have lots of other special perks for Founders Club members, including your name in the Museum!"

He says the museum is a non-profit organization, and has relied heavily on members and donors for support, making the move from Portland to Bangor, and readying the historic building on Broadway, which used to house buses for Hasey's Maine Stages, but also served as a taxi station and a redemption center decades ago. It sat vacant for many years before Coleman purchased the place. The windows in the building needed to be replaced, as did the furnace, before moving the inventory into the space.

Coleman encourages those interested in becoming museum members to sign up here.