Courtesy / Waterfall Arts
Waterfall Arts occupies an 84-year-old former school building that is now undergoing renovations.
January 5, 2022
Belfast community arts center receives $100K gift toward building renovations
Courtesy / Waterfall Arts
Energy-efficient improvements and brownfield remediation are part of a mission to improve Waterfall Arts’ facility, seen here in an artist's rendering.
By Staff
An arts organization in Belfast, Waterfall Arts, announced on Tuesday that it has received an anonymous $100,000 grant to support the ongoing renovation of its community center.
The nonprofit is renovating the 84-year-old former Governor Anderson School building at 256 High St., according to a news release. Goals include making the building more energy-efficient and closer to a "net zero" facility, while expanding its capacity for exhibitions, performances and education.
The $100,000 grant provides matching funds necessary to complete work under a 2019 Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Grant. The grant also provides additional matching funds for removing lead paint around all of the building’s 74 windows and replacing them with energy-efficient, contemporary versions that match the elegant, original size and proportion.
The identity of the donor was not disclosed.
“We are thrilled and very grateful for this very substantial grant from a donor who believes in Waterfall Arts and has supported our efforts for many years,” Alan Crichton Waterfall Arts’ co-founder and campaign chair, said in the release. “These funds have already begun to transform our beloved historical building.”
Waterfall plans to install the new windows in the spring and to have new landscaping finished in July. A new roof was recently completed.
The campaign is called Waterfall Arts Capital Campaign: Waterfall Rising. The grant is expected to ensure the completion of the first three of four phases of renovations, said Kim Fleming, Waterfall Arts’ executive director.
The first three phases include a new parking lot, as well as the landscaping, roof and windows. The redo is designed to recall the building’s original 1935 design.
“Phase Four will be a reimagining of the building’s main entryway from the parking lot side to provide more than twice the exhibit and performance space, to install a lift serving three levels, and to create a more accessible welcome to the public,” Fleming added.
The overall campaign goal is $2.6 million. With the latest grant and previous contributions, the campaign has raised over 60% of the goal.
“This grant provides important momentum for the remaining fundraising necessary to complete Waterfall Rising in 2022,” said Crichton. Modernizing the building will pave the way for future decades of Waterfall Arts’ growth as we create empowering arts experiences that energize Belfast and the mid-coast Maine community.”
Waterfall Arts offers classes, exhibitions, art events, performances, public art projects and open studios in ceramics, glassblowing, printmaking, and darkroom photography and more.
In 2019, the organization received a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Brownfields program, for removing and replacing old materials that were part of the school’s original construction.
Waterfall Arts contributed a $70,000 match to the grant.
In the Belfast area, Waterfall Arts is one of 20 arts groups contributing $2.7 million to the region’s economy, as of 2019.
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Anonymous
January 9, 2022
My Grade School in the 1940's before rear wing added..went there thru the 5th grade, 6 was over crowded so they sent us townies down to Crosby High which had a vacant room. We lived on Waldo Ave. Side of the Anderson School.
Anonymous
January 6, 2022
This organization plays a big part in the vitality of Waldo County. Good news!
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