Biddeford wins $150,000 grant to restore historic City Hall Clock Tower
Courtesy / City of Biddeford
The City of Biddeford will restore its City Hall Clock Tower with a $150,000 historic preservation grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced this week. It garnered 85,000 votes in an online contest for the Vote Your Main Street campaign and used a $20,000 grant issued at the start of the contest to generate support for the clock tower and the city as a whole.
The times they are a-changin’ in Biddeford, which will use a $150,000 historic preservation grant unveiled on Monday to restore its City Hall Clock Tower. The chimes once used to summon mill workers to their shifts.
The grant, from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, was awarded following an online contest in which Biddeford garnered 85,000 votes between Sept. 24 and Oct. 26.
Biddeford was one of 20 communities nationwide invited to submit a project for the Vote Your Main Street contest, and came in third in number of votes—behind Leadville, Colo., for its Tabor Opera House, and San Francisco for The Women’s Building, which opened in 1979.
Along with the other competitors, Biddeford received a $20,000 grant from American Express at the start of the contest to fund initiatives that generated support for both the clock tower and the city as a whole.
A two-minute film produced by Andrew Dickinson, called “It’s Our Time,” established the theme of Biddeford’s campaign.
Heart of Biddeford also held an open house on Oct. 20 that included tours inside the clock tour and a community celebration outside City Hall featuring illuminated projections on the tower, a performance from local circus troupe Sellam Circus and a reading of an original piece by local writer Emma Bouthillette.
“It’s truly amazing to see that a community the size of Biddeford was able to collect tens of thousands of votes and rise above some of the largest cities in the country to win this grant,” said Mayor Alan Casavant in Monday’s press release. “That’s really a testament to the dedication of our citizens and the passion that this community has for this local icon.”
Delilah Poupore, Heart of Biddeford’s executive director, added: “With this win, I think the community has answered the question, ‘What time is it?’ It’s time to restore the clock tower to working order, and it’s time to include everyone as we revitalize Biddeford.”
Biddeford City Hall, listed on the National Historic Register, was designed by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens in 1895 to replace the previous City Hall building that had been destroyed in a fire. The clock tower was added to Maine Preservation’s annual list of the state’s most endangered properties in 2014.
An official timeline for the restoration work will be established in coming weeks, and City Manager James Bennett said via email on Tuesday that officials are working on the details.
American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation distributed a total of $2 million in funding via the competition, and more than a million votes were cast across 20 participating communities.
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