BUCKSPORT, Maine (From The Ellsworth American) -- Things have been quiet at the local paper mill since last winter, when Verso Paper Corp. shuttered the plant and sold it to AIM Development, a Canadian firm that specializes in recycling metal.

But big changes will soon take place on the 250-acre waterfront site.

After receiving demolition permits from both the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the town, AIM will begin demolishing the mill on 30 Nov., company official Jeffrey McGlin said.

The project will take about a year, McGlin added. It will generate 32,000 cubic yards of steel and debris, to be removed from the property by rail.

AIM hopes to redevelop the site, and the demolition will also clear the way for any firms that have been eyeing the property.

It will be a bittersweet change for many in the area. Up until its closure in late 2014, the mill was an economic mainstay here, employing more than 500 workers and accounting for almost half the town's property tax valuation.

But while local taxpayers and laid-off mill workers initially hoped another papermaker might try to buy the mill from Verso, then AIM, many have come to accept that Bucksport's days as a mill town are over.

On Nov. 18, town Code Enforcement Officer Jeffrey Hammond issued a demolition permit to AIM.

That followed a Nov. 16 meeting by the Town Council at which several requirements for AIM were approved.

The company has agreed to post $4.07-million in bonds guaranteeing its completion of the work and let grant-funded environmental testing take place on the site.

AIM will not remove concrete slabs from the ground as part of its demolition, but it has agreed to do so if the slabs can't be repurposed by another company within seven years.

The company has already dismantled and removed some equipment from the mill site. The next step will be taking down buildings.

"It's going well," McGlin said of the progress on the project. "We're excited to have the permit process behind us and get demolition matters started."

AIM made the news earlier this month when it filed for bankruptcy protection for a power plant also located on the Bucksport mill site. But in federal court filings, AIM has said the process won't affect its demolition plans for the papermaking sections of the mill.

While McGlin has not gone into specifics about the company's redevelopment plans, he said he has received inquiries about the acreage and assets of the Bucksport site, including the power plant, the deep water port and the freight rail line that runs from there to Bangor.

One of those inquiries came from Maine Maritime Academy, McGlin added.

Jennifer DeJoy, MMA's director of college relations, confirmed that school officials are considering starting an off-site marine education program. But she said, "Speculation on the location of such a program would be premature."

AIM has also demolished and begun redevelopment at two paper mills in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Just as the new owner begins its demolition of the Bucksport mill, the last owner seems stuck in a downward spiral.

Verso officials are now talking about filing for bankruptcy amid poor performance, and the Tennessee company will soon cut 300 jobs from its Jay paper mill.