WMSt to Receive Award from Mid-Maine Chamber

WMSt is being awarded the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce's Community Service Project of the Year Award, which is presented annually to a nonprofit that enhances community, is good for economic well-being of the area, and encourages further development in the region. The award will be presented at the Annual Awards Dinner at Grandeur Sun at Hafford Saloon on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The happy hour begins at 5:30pm with the dinner starting at 6:30pm.

Artist Tim Gaudreau explores Waterville's sense of place

Portsmouth, NH based artist Tim Gaudreau arrived in Waterville on September 11 for a two-week residency designed to explore the Waterville community and its unique sense of place through a multi-dimensional public art project.

Commissioned by Waterville Main Street and funded by a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, Tim's work included collecting residents' thoughts on Waterville, its history and its future, and documenting Waterville's sense of place and community through an interactive “photo booth" and the distribution, circulation, and collection of 15 "seeds." (pictured above right)

The culmination of Tim's work, the Community Portrait Collage (pictured left), is on display at Barrels Community Market, located at 74 Main Street and open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 7pm. The collage incorporates photos, notes, personal stories, and other materials collected through the seeds.

Read Tim's artist statement (also on display at Barrels).

On May 14, downtown stakeholders packed the room at 74 Main Street, the future home of Barrels Community Market, to hear the announcement of Downtown Business of the Year. This year, the honor was bestowed upon Blue Marble Gallery / Digital ImageWorks and accepted by owner Erik Thomas. Presented by Mayor Paul Lepage and WMSt President Ave Vinick, the Downtown Business of the Year award includes a framed print of an original watercolor by artist Dianne Weber as well as a key to the City.

Blue Marble Gallery brings hundreds of visitors to the Downtown District through its regular gallery openings, and the other side of the business, Digital ImageWorks provides large scale printing for hundreds of artist clients, downtown businesses such as Day's Jewelers and Shadow Distribution, and nonprofits like Waterville Main Street. The business owner, Erik Thomas, serves on the WMSt Board, chairs the Design Committee, and serves on the Promotion and Arts Fest Committees. He was also instrumental in bringing the Maine Open Juried Art Show back to Downtown Waterville this year, hosting the show at his gallery, where he also hosts the Mid-Maine Chamber's Hot Stove Leagues. He serves as the event chair of The Hill ‘n the Ville music festival and the Parade of Lights, and attends and volunteers at nearly every downtown event throughout the year. Erik is also the lead organizer of Waterville Main Street's upcoming Taj Mahal concert fundraiser at the Waterville Opera House. Congratulations to Erik and Blue Marble Gallery / Digital ImageWorks!

This year's nominees for Downtown Business of the Year included:
•  A.E. Hodsdon, Engineers
•  Blue Marble Gallery / Digital ImageWorks
•  GHM Insurance Agency
•  Kennebec Chocolates
•  Pinnacle Development Group
•  Soup to Nuts Coffee House
•  Waterville Savings Bank of Maine

The Office of Community Development has announced that it will award the City of Waterville a $500,000 Downtown Revitalization Grant through the Community Development Block Grant program. “ We had the most competitive round of Downtown Revitalization application in several years. I look forward to working with the City of Waterville and the Waterville Main Street Program on executing the activities in their successful grant application,” says Terry Ann Stevens, Development Program Manager of the Office of Community Development.

According to Shannon Haines, Executive Director of Waterville Main Street, “The grant will fund three significant categories of activity designed to spur further development and revitalization efforts in Downtown Waterville.” Haines worked with the City to write and submit the successful grant application. The three major funding categories include waterfront improvements, the creation of a Downtown Improvement Grant fund, and streetscape improvements.

The primary goal of the planned waterfront improvements is to develop a visible and accessible connection between the Head of Falls riverfront property and the rest of the Downtown district via Temple Street. Specifically, funds will be used to: a) Raise and provide handicapped access to the Two Cent Bridge, a structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; b) Develop a gateway plaza that will serve as a Head of Trails site for the Kennebec Messalonskee Trails system; c) Develop walkways to connect the Gateway Plaza to Temple Street and accessible parking; and d) Make landscaping and other aesthetic improvement, including improved lighting, benches, and trash cans, to this City owned parcel of land. The planned improvements are in keeping with the 2001 Waterville Riverfront Master Plan.

The Downtown Improvement Grant fund will be broken into three categories of funding that will be made available to downtown business and property owners, who will be required to provide a 1:1 match in order to receive grant funding. The categories include Façade Improvement Grants, Microenterprise Grants and Rental Housing Grants. “Now that the CDBG funding has been secured, Waterville Main Street will work with the City to develop the specific program details and application materials over the next month or so,” said Haines. “We are very excited to be able to offer such a wide range of resources to business and property owners to help them make improvements and become more profitable.”

The proposed streetscape improvements to be funded through the grant include bicycle racks, banners, trash receptacles, and signage. The streetscape improvements portion of the Downtown Revitalization grant will be matched by the City of Waterville through moneys from the Downtown TIF fund.

Downtown Waterville has benefited from CDBG grants in the past as well, including a $100,000 Community Enterprise Grant for façade improvements in 2004 and a $150,000 Community Enterprise Grant for sidewalk repair in 2006.