Early last week, TIMA decided to clean house. Marking the latest step in the renovation process, safes dating back to 1887 were removed from TIMA’s main building on 43 Water Street. Originally the Eastport Savings Bank, the building has housed three kinds of safes — a walk-in safe on the second floor, a safety deposit box safe inside the walk-in safe, and a wall safe on the ground floor. Bangor Savings Bank, the last bank tenants, closed the safes in the 1990’s before they vacated the premises. Besides the walk-in safe’s conversion into a stairwell to the ground floor galleries, the safes have been relatively untouched since TIMA purchased the building in 2002. With the aid of a backhoe, chains and some leverage, the remaining two were pulled from the depths of the basement in a spray of dust and splinters. The doors have now been moved to another TIMA location up the street and are available for viewing upon request.
