As coastal Maine towns are contending with a variety of changes, one Downeast fishing village is having an iconic symbol of its past restored.

Big Jim, as he is known locally, is a 40-foot tall aluminum cutout of a fisherman wearing yellow rain gear. In his hands is a lobster trap that, before the sign was repainted several times over the decades, was originally a can of sardines.

Gouldsboro, where Big Jim has been located since the 1970s, and the surrounding Schoodic Peninsula have gone through many changes over the years. Since a Navy base closed at Schoodic Point in the early 2000s, and the former sardine cannery where Big Jim stands shut down permanently in 2010, housing prices have soared and the number of tourists who come through the Schoodic section of the park has jumped by

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