VAN BUREN, Maine – Van Buren may soon regain its spot in the Maine Downtown Center’s statewide “Main Street” program, which provides resources, guidance, and networking opportunities to help towns stay sustainable and grow.
The Maine Downtown Center is part of the Maine Development Foundation and the national Main Street America program. Senior Program Director Anne Ball recently visited Van Buren to take a tour and speak with community and business leaders about the town’s trajectory.
Ball said the town first submitted their application in October, which outlined their priorities, budget and challenges. After a review, she said their next step was the Dec. 13 site visit.
“They had an amazing cross section of people from elected officials, town committee members, a librarian, residents, a former teacher, someone from public works, and so much more,” Ball said.
She said the Van Buren group was enthusiastic about new developments, and realistic about what the smaller community could accomplish.
“They don’t really say yes to everything,” Ball said. “They think, ‘Okay, what can we handle that we can do well?’”
Part of the community’s future goals include restoring the Gayety Theatre building, an iconic structure that has been part of the town for over a century, in a way that preserves much of its historic details and incorporates it into the downtown area. Ball said they also acknowledged that there are empty storefronts on main street they would like to fill and existing storefronts that need improvement.
Ball said the National main street program is about 40 years old and the Maine iteration of the program is 25 years old. Van Buren was among the first communities to join the program, but shortly afterward town officials decided to leave the program.
Ball and Van Buren Town Manager Luke Dyer both said it is unclear why Van Buren left the program roughly 20 years ago, as the decision was made under a different administration.
“Looking at the list of people that were involved with the Maine Downtown program – in their original application – none of those people are left here,” Dyer said.
He said it is likely that the program just lost steam or the current officials did not want to pay the renewal fee. Dyer did not know what the fee was when the town first joined over two decades ago, but the membership fee is now $750 per year.
The Aroostook County towns of Madawaska and Houlton are also members of the program. If Van Buren is approved, they will become the 29th community in the state to gain membership.
She said it is highly likely that Van Buren will successfully regain its membership in the first quarter of next year.
“We want programs to succeed,” she said, “and that’s why we put them through a pretty detailed application process, because we want to see that they can write a grant or that they can have volunteers help run an event and talk to the local businesses.”
Dyer said this will coincide well with the town’s other ongoing revitalization efforts, which were kickstarted last year when the town was selected as one of 17 in the country to get a Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design grant to help spur economic development.
“Van Buren is building a strong foundation for long-term economic resilience, cultural preservation, and community pride,” Dyer said.
