MILLINOCKET, Maine — Pursuit of grants, private donations and blight removal are among the goals set by the Millinocket Downtown Revitalization Committee as it begins fundraising efforts for three downtown repair projects, its chairwoman said Thursday.
“The idea is to have visible projects that we complete so that visitors would see a change, a little more color, a little more life” in downtown Millinocket, Marsha Donahue, chairwoman of the MDRC’s board of directors, said Thursday.
Despite being hit hard by the closing of the local paper mill in 2008 and the removal of equipment from the former mill site on Katahdin Avenue since last summer, the volunteer downtown business group has had an energized group of about two dozen residents since it began holding monthly meetings again in October, according to Wayne Curlew, Donahue’s husband and co-owner of their North Light art gallery on Penobscot Avenue.
“We have a real proactive group, and they seem to be doing really well,” Curlew said. “We have a lot of attendance at meetings and come up with a lot of ideas. The attitude is A-1. Everybody is really gung-ho for it.”
Several Town Council members and Town Manager Peggy Daigle have attended meetings as well, a good sign their once-fractured relationship with MDRC — which split over the latter’s support of a proposed national park, among other things — is on the mend.
“I would not say it is repaired, but I would say that it is easier and more involved,” Donahue said.
Councilors said they were pleased with the group’s activity.
“They are on the right track,” Councilor Michael Madore said Thursday. “They are enthusiastic and realistic in their scope. They want to concentrate on a few doable downtown projects first. That can only help.”
“We need more volunteers around here,” Councilor Gilda Stratton said.
The group, which was founded in 2008 and received its section 501(c)(3) federal tax exemption as a nonprofit organization in July, has several projects pending. It hopes to raise $2,000 to repair a downtown district sign west of Millinocket stream, $1,000 to repair the downtown bandstand and $2,000 for banners to be strung around downtown. They hope to do the work by Memorial Day, Donahue said.
Eventually, those small-scale ideas might be followed by larger projects. The group wants to work with town officials and get grants or fundraise to improve downtown business facades and remove or repair blighted buildings, Donahue said.
“A lot of people are coming in with ideas,” Donahue said. “The idea is that you don’t come in with a proposal unless you are willing to take action on it. This is a proactive group. We don’t want to just sit around and talk about things. If we can’t work on it right now, we table it for later action.”