Old Town’s new economic development director has been on the job for less than six months, but she’s toting big plans for the city and discovering road blocks.
Amy Collinsworth, the former Katahdin Region economic development director with Eastern Maine Development Corporation, has been working on plans to beautify Old Town and bring in more businesses and tourists since she was hired in January, but not without issues, she said.
Nonprofits and owners of restaurants and tattoo shops have reached out to Collinsworth about opening new businesses in the city. But there’s limited space to put them and the owners of the vacant storefronts downtown are either not interested in leasing their space, want an established business to come in or can’t be contacted, she said.
“I’ve definitely had people reach out about coming here. I don’t know where to bring them,” she said.
The Millinocket native is stepping into a role that has previously struggled to bring more businesses and foot traffic to the city’s downtown. Old Town, like many Greater Bangor communities, is looking for ways to bring in more tax revenue during a time when budgets keep going up. Since the city’s paper mill shuttered operations in 2023, city officials have been largely unsuccessful at bringing in revenue and jobs.
While promoting and planning Old Town’s summer barbecue events with local volunteers, Collinsworth has been strategizing for the future of the city, which looks positive based on multiple businesses reaching out to find a space to open in the past months, she said.
Despite a lack of available store fronts, Collinsworth still sees ways to bring in new businesses.
Finishing the Old Town Energy and Enterprise Park and expanding the Main Street Market Village are ways to create such opportunities, Collinsworth said.
The Main Street Market Village is a series of three sheds that businesses can lease. Plans to expand it are in the early stages, but more sheds would be added to allow more shops, most likely non-established businesses, to come to the city, Collinsworth said.
Old Town received nearly $4 million in congressionally designated funds in 2024 to create a parkway and industrial park, the Old Town Energy and Enterprise Park, on city land. It’s unclear what type of business would go into the park, but the city will know more once water and electricity are connected, Collinsworth said.
Another area open for development, the former Old Town Canoe lot, is also being seen as a possible area for growth. The land has been owned by the city since 2011.
A hospitality company previously reached out to the city about the space, with studies being conducted for a possible hotel with workforce housing and boutique shops, but talks stalled due to funding uncertainties, Collinsworth said.
Collinsworth wants to review the study to see what could move into the space, she said.
“I need to see where we’re at as a baseline, and then that would help me figure out where we can move forward,” she said.
Although there is a focus on bringing in new business, Collinsworth is also working on projects that she says would benefit residents and visitors.
A proposed citywide beautification project would see areas like the pocket park on Main Street updated with new flowers, decor and areas for residents to spend time in, Collinsworth said. The project would extend across the city with the goal of enticing people to spend more time in the city, especially downtown, Collinsworth said.
Collinsworth also wants to connect Old Town’s trails to create a more accessible network, she said. The trail system would connect to a proposed canoe museum, but details on where the museum would be or when the project would start haven’t been decided yet, she said.
“There are a bunch of trails in Old Town, and some of them loop, but we want to connect them all and create a nice big multi-use trail,” she said.
Collinsworth is working with Downtown Old Town, a group dedicated to improving the area, on many of her projects, and has specifically created a beautification committee. Volunteers with the group and local businesses have helped her with the city’s summer events by providing staffing and donating materials, she said.
While work is constantly being done to improve Old Town, residents aren’t always aware of what’s happening, Collinsworth said. When proposals start moving forward, residents could be more positive about the city’s future, get involved and bring additional ideas to the city, she said.
“Once people start seeing that action is being taken through beautification, through the trail systems, through well-organized community events, and they feel a little bit more that the things are happening, it can only grow from there,” Collinsworth said.