Water Street without the 1916 Haggett building will look different. It would, no matter the demolished building's age. One less building on any street leaves a void filled only by the memory of it. And an old building, historically significant or not, leaves a lot of memories.

If someone had snapped it up years ago and established a thriving business there when Coastal Enterprises first put it on the market, the building might have been spared as a target when the state started looking. And the building's differences from its earlier self helped seal its fate. Without them, the state would have had a harder hill to climb or may not have given the spot a serious look as a prospective parking lot.

So if you get missing the building this week when the state expects to finish taking it down, don't fault Maine Department of Transportation or the project's proponents for wanting to break or lessen the bottleneck and make a safer walk across Main Street.

Think to those who altered the building and realize they, too, were doing as they saw fit. Had they known the changes were signing away the building's future, would that have overridden whatever needs were behind those changes? Should it have?

Just as a renovation fits an owner's needs and taking down the tall evergreen at the municipal building fit the town's need for a better line of sight for Route 1 motorists when emergency vehicles were leaving the station, the Haggett building's removal fit the state's needs for the project on and off Main Street and down Railroad Avenue.

MDOT is changing downtown Wiscasset's parking and more because it sees fit to. In that, the agency saw fit to pluck the Haggett building from the village.

Miss the building or not. Agree or disagree with the state or opponents of this action. And move on with respect for all and with the memories.