Mitchell is co-owner of Maine's oldest diner. Greg Mitchell handed the check to Jon Jacques at the Palace Diner in Biddeford. “We’ve been able to utilize those spaces often for performances and other events,” she said. When she saw the mills for the first time, Ackerman said she was struck by their beauty. Located on Main Street, in the historic building of a former department store, Engine serves as a hub for arts and education. Today, after relocating from Nevada, she is among a colony of artists that has located in downtown and Sanford’s mills, attracted, like Hyperlite, by low-cost space.Īckerman, a graphic designer, later cofounded Engine, a nonprofit that promotes the arts in the city. Tammy Ackerman became captivated by the mills while visiting Maine in 2006. Pierre, who founded the company with his brother, Mike. “What we found attractive here was the size - the room and space to grow,” said Dan St. They moved to Biddeford in 2011 and today, the company employs 17. Hyperlite was launched by two brothers in their father’s garage in Kennebunk in 2010, but they soon decided they needed a new location when they found themselves testing tents by staking them in the front yard. About 150 companies today call the Pepperell Mill campus home. Sanford redeveloped and marketed the property as a business incubator, offering startups and other small firms rents that are nearly half those in nearby Portland. Harrington also credits Sanford’s pioneering efforts at the other end of Main Street, which demonstrated the potential of the mills. “We would have never chosen the Lincoln Mill if the incinerator was still in downtown,” said Harrington. The project is expected to create 200 full-time jobs and 350 construction jobs. Harrington recently acquired the former Lincoln Mill with plans to invest $50 million to transform the complex across from City Hall into a luxury hotel and loft-style apartments and condominiums. That decision opened the door for Tim Harrington, a Kennebunkport developer, and his Atlantic Holdings LLC. A tipping point came in 2012, when the city shut down the trash-to-energy plant. Stevenson and Casavant, elected mayor in 2011, reached out to local businesses, developers, and residents for ideas to boost economic growth, particularly downtown. “We were still trying to stop the bleeding,” said Daniel Stevenson, Biddeford’s economic development director.Īs the economy improved, city officials looked ahead. In addition to the 120 jobs lost when the textile company closed, the city lost 350 jobs when the Hostess Bakery plant shuttered and more than 100 after a Lowe’s home improvement store closed. Sanford, however, would need to stay patient. The smell of rotting trash was in the air. Garbage trucks queued up along downtown streets. Desperate for investment and tax revenues, and with few options, the city in 1987 sited the trash-to-energy incinerator. At the same time, retail development was moving from central business districts to strip malls, shopping centers, and big boxes on the periphery.īy the 1980s, both foreclosures and empty store fronts were multiplying. The mills began closing in 1960s, followed by the downtown businesses that had supported them and their workers. At its peak in the early 20th century, more than 10,000 people worked in the mills in Biddeford, and Saco, across the river. It became a textile center in the mid-1800s, when a group Boston industrialists were drawn to the power of the Saco River. ”īiddeford is a city of 21,000 residents, located about 90 miles north of Boston. “There were a number of assets that a vibrant community has to have,” said Sanford, who began redeveloping downtown properties 30 years ago, “and they were all here.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |