Photo / Maureen Milliken
Water Street in downtown Gardiner, with Two Gramps Brewing just beyond the Christmas tree. City officials are striving for a downtown that's lively at night, as well as in the day.
December 11, 2019
Downtown Gardiner developing into a destination
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The renovation of the Dingley Block on Water Street in Gardiner, right, which includes new businesses Bateau Brewing and Bintliff's Corner Brew coffee shop, is part of the city's recent downtown upswing.
By Maureen Milliken
Tracey Desjardins has only been Gardiner's economic development director since August, but she's seen more downtown development action than some people in her position see in a year. Or a decade.
Several news businesses have opened, or are opening, along Water Street, downtown's main street. Among them are two brew pubs, a coffee shop and a "latchkey" fitness club. Several developers are adding apartments.
The development activity has primed the pump for more.
"There certainly has been a lot," said Desjardins in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she was attending a brownfields conference. "I get calls pretty much on a weekly basis from people looking for space."
She said the city of 6,000 six miles south of Augusta is on a course for a zero-vacancy downtown. "There's just that much interest."
One major project this year is the renovation of the Dingley Block, 149-161 Water St., at the east end of downtown. Restaurateur Roger Bintliff and Farmingdale artist Alan Claude separately bought the five connected mid-19th century buildings late last year from Gardiner Main Street, which bought them three years ago from Camden National Bank, which is across the street.
Bateau Brewing, a craft brewery, opened at 149 Water St. in August, leasing from Bintliff. Bintliff's cafe, Bintliff Corner Brew (the brew refers to coffee), is opening soon. Claude's two buildings are under renovation, but at least some of it is planned for art space, he has said.
At the other end of the four-block downtown, Able Body Functional Fitness opened at 343 Water St., next door to Frosty's Donuts, which is on the corner of Water and Bridge streets (U.S. Route 201). Next door, Jokers & Rogues, a one-barrel "nano brewery" tasting room was licensed last month and is scheduled to open soon.
The same day a ribbon-cutting was held at Able Body, one was held a block away at 226 Water St., where Nurture ME opened. The store sells green and sustainable goods.
At the end of this week, Two Gramps Brewing, at 266 Water St. is closing, but the Blind Pig Tavern, owned by Brandi Kennerson, is opening in the space.
"It's great that someone local was able to come in and open a business there," Desjardins said.
Added to that is the $4.9 million renovation of Johnson Hall, a three-story opera house that will seat 400 once the work is complete. Next door, the three-story, 9,500-square-foot building at 286-294 Water St. is being renovated.
And then, there's the river and the city's Waterfront Park. She said she was unaware of it until she came to the city.
"It's beautiful, it's phenomenal," Desjardins said. The park has become a destination for boaters, who dock in Gardiner and visit downtown, she said.
'Big believer in downtowns'
Gardiner, less than a 45-minute drive from Portland, can get lost in the shuffle of development. But those who live in the area rely on it, said Matt Drost, a selectman in Randolph, across the Kennebec River.
"It's our downtown," he told Mainebiz recently. "And how many downtowns have three brew pubs?"
He said the emergency of Gardiner's downtown is exciting for the area. "They're success ends up being ours, too," he said. "It's a real asset to the area."
Desjardins said the goal isn't just for a walkable, vibrant downtown with a lot to offer, but one that stays open after the sun sets and that draws people from other parts of Maine.
"We want it to be a place people want to come," she said.
The downtown development didn't happen by accident. The city is one of the 10 Main Street Maine communities in the state, a national program that helps with development. It has benefited from a facade grant program, and in October was awarded a Historic Commercial District Revolving Fund loan from Main Street America. The three-year no-interest loans to business owners will pay for facade and other improvements to historic buildings.
The city several years ago took aim at developing its downtown, and while the names have changed over the past few years, the focus remains, Desjardins said.
Desjardins, who has also worked in Lisbon and Auburn economic development, said Gardiner is attractive to development because, besides the historic and happening downtown, it has a lot going for it.
Libby Hill Business Park is right of Interstate 295, for instance. Across the road, on U.S. Route 201 and also right off Interstate 295, MaineGeneral Health opened a new building that includes Gardiner Family Health, MaineGeneral Express Care, MaineGeneral Orthopaedics, along with sites for workplace health, imaging and laboratory services.
"There's just a lot going on in the city in general, aside from downtown," she said. Still, "I'm a big believer in downtowns," Desjardins said.
Gardiner has a new logo with the slogan "Moving forward."
"And that's very true," she said. "We're moving forward, and it's really bringing life to the entire area."
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Anonymous
December 12, 2019
It also has a brand new dog park; well-maintained; near dam and stream.
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