AUGUSTA – The Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center program is pleased to receive a $750,000 grant from the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program. MDF is one of 14 recipients of this funding nationwide.
Known in Maine as RevitalizeME Downtown, the program will provide grants for historic preservation projects that will foster economic development in Maine’s rural downtowns. This is the fourth time in seven years that MDF has received this highly competitive funding. Similar awards in 2019, 2021 and 2024 funded projects in Maine’s Main Street and Affiliate Communities including Skowhegan, Eastport, Bath, Norway, Dover-Foxcroft, Gardiner, Rumford, Machias, Ellsworth and Augusta.
“This funding is a critical catalyst to Main Street economies as it makes possible the visible rejuvenation of key, cornerstone projects like historic theaters, libraries, and commercial buildings,” says Anne Ball, senior program director, Maine Downtown Center. “Bringing this type of historic preservation funding opportunities to our Main Street communities is one of the most important things MDF’s Maine Downtown Center can do. We are grateful to the National Park Service for funding this transformational work.”
“It’s wonderful that Maine has received this funding again and other downtown projects will benefit from it like we did,” says Michael Miclon, executive director, Johnson Hall in Gardiner. “We are grateful for the REvitalizeME National Park Service grant through Maine Development Foundation. The grant enabled us to repair our historic windows and masonry and really close the gap on our 5-year capital campaign for Johnson Hall, which is a downtown community hub and significant historic theater.”
Revitalize ME Downtown funds are provided by the Historic Preservation Fund, as administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior. The Historic Preservation Fund is supported by revenue from offshore oil and gas leases, not tax dollars. The program will offer grants to historic property owners for preservation, restoration and rehabilitation projects in the downtown areas of communities currently served by the Maine Downtown Center program.
Funding in the form of subgrants will be awarded through a competitive program that will be administered by MDF. MDF has led the cause to address the needs of Maine’s historic downtowns for the past 26 years through its Maine Downtown Center program, which was established by the Maine State Legislature in 1999 to advance preservation-based economic development. These grants will provide desperately needed financial capacity to encourage infrastructure development and leverage private sector investment, increasing the commercial, educational, residential, or civic use and value of the historic properties.
Application and eligibility requirements will be available in June.