Hey Maine: Check Out This New ‘Moose Wing’ Display Up Just In Time For The Millinocket Marathon!

Are you heading to the Millinocket area this weekend, to take part in the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Millinocket Marathon?

Read More: 10th Anniversary Of Millinocket Marathon: Join The Celebration

If you happen past 240 Penobscot Avenue, you're going to get an eyeful, and a fun photo op experience, thanks to a couple of Maine Real Estate professionals with the means and vision to turn what was once an eye sore in the middle of town into what is now an eye-catching piece of art!

Behold Millinocket's newest art installation: Moose Wings.

For many years, the property on Penobscot Ave has been a less-than-impressive looking building, with the wear and tear of time taking its toll.

The building went up for sale in March of 2025, and was purchased this past summer by local businessman, Chris Pepin.

Pepin had the idea to not only improve the property, which had been in a state of disrepair for over a decade, but do something creative with the space, that would tie all of the things he loved about the region together, and draw  folks to the area he loves so much.

"I buy a lot of buildings that require extensive remodel. I recently bought this building on Penobscot Ave in Millinocket, and it's needed repair for as long as I've been driving by it, so you know 10/15 years that it's looked pretty rough."

"I thought because of the location, and the amount of time I spend fishing, hunting and hiking in the Millinocket area and Baxter State Park, and driving off the Golden Road, that it could truly be a statement that connects the community, the town, the surrounding area, nature and also would be a draw for people when they're coming from out of state to recreate in the area."

"This was kind of special because of its location within the downtown space. Its at a really good crossroads of sort of the last area of downtown you leave before you're going to be heading to the lake areas or Baxter State Park or any of that."

Pepin started to freshen up both the interior and exterior of the building and replace the roof, with a special plan to add something unique to the outside space.

Pepin called upon Ella Ruiz, his property manager and artistic collaborator, to help bring this vision to life.

"...We both have fun making his property’s fun and creative when we get the chance to! Chris collects the antlers and he pitched the idea one day and we kind of just ran with it. It was super fun! Very thankful that he trusted me with such a big project."

Pepin said the inspiration to make moose antler wings came about for a couple of different reasons.

"It's kind of multifocal. Number one, I'm an avid hunter/fisherman and I've collected, bought and sold both deer and moose drops and sheds for years, and then done creative projects with them."

Pepin says he's done smaller versions of wings and small-scale murals in prior businesses. He also took inspiration from other "wings" displays, across the nation that he's come across while traveling for work.

"So as I've been thinking about all of the things around Millinocket, my likes and desires and thinking how on such a prominent building with its location, what could we do for a fun mural or something really cool? I was like, 'oh, I have like 500 moose horns that are just in stacks for no particular reason', so I started thinking about what I could do with them, and then thought 'oh, this is what I could do!'"

"I came with that idea and then handed that off to Ella, she's my property manager, but she's pretty artistic and creative."

With a team of between 3 a 12 folks, depending on the day, it took Ruiz and the contractors about 3 months to renovate the exterior and put up all the antlers.

Ruiz took to her social media page to share the excitement for a project that was near and dear to her heart for more than just the impact it would have on the region, but as a way to connect with her heritage, too.

"For those who know me, you know I take a lot of pride in being Indigenous, Latina, and a true lover of nature. So creating this piece was personal — I wanted to treat these antlers with care, respect, and intention."

Pepin says he's done projects like this one before in other places, like Bangor, and knows work like this can be an inspirational boost for communities.

"Those things are transformative...it can really change an entire neighborhood to do these things, so it's a big deal...Mixing art with it and doing something that's both familiar with people with the moose horns, and local, and giving it a little bit of a different flair than people are used to is just one more way to add excitement to a project like this. So that was a lot of fun for me."

Peppin says since the wings went up, locals have been stopping by daily to express their excitement about the building's new look.

"It's been so wonderful to have the town be so open arms with this project and I think see us kind of go even above and beyond doing just a simple remodel, and put some true love into the building, that's been fun."

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"People are absolutely loving this...between phone calls and texts and people seeing the post and sharing. I think people are really, really happy....I think revitalizing that building has been really well received by the community...The number of people who just randomly stop and pull up and walk over to us throughout this project, it's really heartfelt."

"This building has needed this forever. It's a centerpiece for the town. It represents us when people come from out of town and out of state. So they've hall of that pride for their community and their town and they've really embraced that we're putting a significant amount of time and money into that building to make it look better. "

Pepin says the timing of it all worked out well that the exterior of the project was completed just before this weekend's race, stating that his wife and daughter and sister-in-law have run the race for many years, and everyone had hoped it would be finished in time for the influx of folks who will be coming into town for the marathon.

He says he hopes in the renovations to the interior of the building will be complete just after the New Year. The total price tag on the revitalization of the Penobscot Ave. property is about $700,000.

Pepin says he hopes that folks enjoy the work they've put into the place, as much as they've enjoyed coming up with the building's new look, as that's been his motivation throughout the project.

"Let's have some fun with this and maybe we can be inspiring at the same time."