Messages painted on Gardiner building raise eyebrows with QAnon message, code violation

A large message about free speech and the right to bear arms was painted recently on the Gardiner Feed building in downtown Gardiner. Officials say the message, which also alludes to conspiracy theories about former President John F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., violates the city’s sign ordinance. The building is scheduled to be repainted in a few weeks. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

GARDINER — Words painted on two sides of a waterfront building in Gardiner have people scratching their heads.

For Nat Shacklett, the words were enough to pull into the parking lot behind Harvey’s Hardware for a moment Tuesday to take a quick photograph.

The message painted in turquoise on the side of the former Gardiner Feed building, facing Maine Avenue, reads, “BRING SALMON BACK FISH LADDERS WHO’S IN!?” The word “salmon” is decorated with orange dots.

On the side that faces Cobbosseecontee Stream, the message painted in orange reads, “1st & 2nd AMENDMENT 4EVER JFK & JR SEND THEIR REGARDS.”

The painted words on the prominent downtown building violate restrictions in the city’s sign rules. The message also appears to reference coded messages spread by followers of QAnon, the fringe far-right movement that links real-world events into a grand conspiracy theory involving former President Donald Trump.

Most people who drive by do not give the words a second look, either because they are intent on getting to their destination or they have noticed the words before.

Shacklett, who lives in Randolph, said they noticed one message while passing by Sunday and did not realize there was a second one.

“That building is really wild,” Shacklett said. “The texture is intense.”

The Gardiner Feed building, with its metal roof and faded and flaking yellow paint, has stood at that location for more than five decades. Now vacant and for lease, it once housed a feed store owned by Wayne Cross.

During reconstruction of the Maine Avenue bridge, which began in 2019, a third of the building closest to Cobboseecontee Stream was torn down. By that time, many of the farmers had retired, taking their business with them. At the time of the bridge construction, Cross was selling chain saws from the building.

The leasing agent did not return a call Tuesday for comment.

Chief Todd Pilsbury of the Gardiner Police Department said he is reluctant to refer to the painted words as graffiti — it could be art. No one has complained since June 3, when the painting was done in the middle of the day in the rain. It was noted in the Gardiner police log.

Downtown Gardiner has been home to other public art projects.

A large message about free speech and the right to bear arms was painted recently on the Gardiner Feed building in downtown Gardiner. Officials say the message, which also alludes to conspiracy theories about former President John F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., violates the city’s sign ordinance. The building is scheduled to be repainted in a few weeks. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

For several years, the city hosted an Art in the Park program, which brought sculptures to Dearborn Park from Viles Arboretum on Water Street for display in the summer months.

And in 2016 and 2017, wheat paste art installations decorated the rear side of Water Street buildings overlooking the Arcade parking lot.

But this is something different.

Efforts to restore salmon to Maine’s rivers are ongoing, and work has been underway to restore fish passage on Cobbosseecontee Stream, which many people support.

The message referencing the Kennedys, however, is more mysterious. Both Kennedys figure in conspiracies spread by QAnon followers. The theories hold that the former president would return to Dallas, where he was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, and the younger Kennedy would emerge from hiding — where he has been for almost 24 years, since the plane crash that killed him, his wife and her sister — to serve as vice president to Trump, who would be reinstated to the presidency.

Kris McNeill, Gardiner’s code enforcement officer, said the painted words — not the messages — on the sides of the building violate the city’s sign ordinance and are expected to be short-lived. There are plans to repaint the building in a few weeks.

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