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MAIN STREET SKOWHEGAN

Spirit award is a tribute to downtown

By Doug Harlow dharlow@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

SKOWHEGAN -- The Main Street Skowhegan program has received this year's Governor's Community Spirit Award from the Maine Office of Community Development.

It was the second such award in 2010 for Skowhegan, a community with "yet another feather in its once-empty hat," Main Street Skowhegan Executive Director Jennifer Olsen said.

The program recently was named Outstanding Main Street of the Year by the Maine Development Foundation's Downtown Center.

"It's not something that you can nominate yourself for, or apply for in terms of it being a competitive process," Olsen said of the Governor's Award. "You are selected by the Office of Community Development and their staff. It was an honor that was bestowed upon us, but not one that we anticipated."

The community development office is a division of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which administers the block grant program statewide.

Terry Ann Stevens, program manager at the community development office, said the town of Skowhegan and the Main Street program have come a long way in the past year. In 2009, Skowhegan's certification as a Main Street community came under scrutiny after going eight months without a director.

Main Street Skowhegan is a nonprofit organization focused on revitalizing downtown Skowhegan. More than 120 people, 16 service organizations and 80 businesses and nonprofits donated more than 20,000 hours of labor since 2005 supporting the efforts to revitalize Skowhegan's downtown.

"We are so proud to receive this honor for our program," Olsen said. "Our work is getting better and better, and Skowhegan is definitely ready to grow its downtown to the next level."

Olsen cited recent and upcoming improvements in pedestrian safety and green spaces, façade work currently under way downtown, and a "branding" initiative for a marketable identity coming this fall.

"The progress with these endeavors, along with events such as the Holiday Stroll, brings the community together and they realize Skowhegan's full potential," Olsen said. "These awards are validation of the great work that Main Street Skowhegan has accomplished over the year and the positive path they are working toward.

Main Street Skowhegan was established in 2005 through the Maine Development Foundation, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

For more information, contact the Maine Development Foundation at www.mdf.org, or the local program at www.mainstreetskowhegan.org.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534

dharlow@centralmaine.com