Maine Development Foundation names 2020 Downtown Center Award winners

Courtesy / Maine Development Foundation Bath's new downtown meeting place, Beacon Park, at 31 Center St., was the former Tate's store.

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By Staff

A Saco ice cream and gathering place, a Skowhegan community leader and a Bath indoor park have all been recognized by the Maine Downtown Center, a program of the Maine Development Foundation, for revitalization efforts last year.

The annual Maine Downtown Center Awards recognize efforts to enhance and support downtown revitalization and — particularly in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic — recession and pursuit of racial justice.

The awards were presented in a virtual ceremony Thursday that featured a keynote speech by Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Award winners are:

Downtown Project Award: The Saco Scoop, a project of Saco Main Street that provides a community hub, sustainable funding source for the Main Street organization and workforce training. The combination ice cream shop and gathering place puts into practice the Main Street Four Point Approach — economic vitality, design, promotion and organization — "every day in the work they do," MDF said in a news release announcing the awards.

Innovation Award: Beacon Park in downtown Bath, at 31 Center St., for providing a COVID-safe community indoor space which was developed quickly to fulfill an immediate downtown need as the weather got colder. The space was developed through a partnership between the city of Bath, Main Street Bath, Sagadahoc Real Estate Association, General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works and Union+Co.

Downtown Hero Award: MacKenzie Cayford, who started as a Skowhegan Brew Fest volunteer and has become a community and organizational leader, as well as a board member and committee chair of Main Street Skowhegan, all while working for a downtown small business and starting her own business, Crown & Root.

Crayford said that volunteering has its own rewards. "Volunteering in Skowhegan has been an additional outlet for my creativity. I am trusted, appreciated and able to help make things happen in the right direction. Above everything else, experiencing the heartwarming reactions of our community members and event attendees puts you on the type of cloud that you only experience when you know that you have done something good- it is priceless.”

“We are so happy to celebrate these projects that were bright spots amidst the heaviness of 2020," Anne Ball, senior program director for MDF’s Maine Downtown Center said. "These awards highlight the resilience, ingenuity and creativity of individuals, small business owners, and community organizations who are keeping our downtown economies — and morale — vibrant despite challenges on many fronts.”

Importance of small downtowns

During her keynote speech, Mitchell focused on why independent small businesses are important to Maine, its downtowns, local culture and sense of place — especially now.

"As challenging as this past year has been, it's also marked a turning point," Mitchell said. "Congress and federal antitrust agencies started moving to break up the outsized power of corporate giants like Amazon and adopt policies to better support Main Street businesses.

"These are exciting developments for Maine downtown communities that could open up promising opportunities for stabilizing and growing our local economies in the years ahead."

The Maine Downtown Center Awards recognize outstanding efforts in communities that are part of MDF’s Maine Downtown Center program.

To become a member of the program, the community must:

Have a central business district characterized by a cohesive core of historic or older commercial and mixed-use buildings that represent the community’s architectural heritage; a sufficient mass of businesses, buildings and density to be effective; be compact, easily walkable and pedestrian-oriented.
An organized effort, that is broad-based, involves local government and others, such as a nonprofit organization, Chambers of Commerce, commercial district organization, merchant groups, residents.
A sustainable budget that summarizes and identifies projected income and expense costs to achieve program goals; willing to work toward developing diversified and sustainable program funding to accomplish goals.
Pledge commitment to the MDF program and take part in training and more.