Photo / Maureen Milliken
Downtown Island Falls.
May 15, 2019
Island Falls has plan to fill empty downtown buildings
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The Brick Garage in Island Falls, which has a cafe and mini golf, overlooks the Mattawamkeag River and an island that the town hopes to connect with a river walk as part of its economic development plan.
By Maureen Milliken
The southern Aroostook County town of Island Falls, with a year-round population of less than 900, may not look much like Millinocket, 40 miles to the southwest, but the two towns have a lot in common.
When Island Falls' starch mill closed in 2009, it was the final blow to an economic decline that had started several years before. Owned by National Starch and Chemical since 1976, the plant had once employed about 70 people, but by the time it closed it employed 37. The plant, which made starch for both food and industrial products, was first built in the 1950s by local potato farmers.
Its grounds are now used by a scrap metal dealer, who owns the property, the buildings vacant for 10 years. One of them collapsed this winter.
Businesses have left town, leaving most of the storefronts in Main Street's clapboard buildings vacant. Millinocket, population about 4,200, suffered a similar blow when its paper mill closed in 2008.
"We went through what Millinocket went through, just on a smaller scale," Island Falls Town Manager Jutta Beyer told Mainebiz. The lack of a major employer meant a drop in population and businesses leaving town.
"It's really hard getting businesses to come here," Beyer said. "We just had to do something."
The town has good bones, including 19th and early 20th-century wooden buildings that line a winding main street along the dramatic Mattawamkeag River. But most of the buildings are in disrepair and many of the cars that come through on Route 159 and U.S. Route 2 don't stop.
The town in the past year formed an economic development advisory committee, which presented an economic development plan to selectmen in March.
The biggest result so far is the town going forward on a feasibility student for a sewer system that would stretch from the former starch mill at the west end of town half a mile down Houlton Road, the town's main street, to the town office at the east end of downtown.
The town has no public sewer, with buildings operating on septic system. Regulations put in place long after most of the buildings were built, and the town's location on two lakes and with Mattawamkeag River flowing behind downtown made expansion of septic difficult, if not impossible.
She said that many of the buildings have second-floor apartment space, which can't be developed unless a sewer system is available.
The feasibility study will be paid for with a $40,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.
Model for success
One business downtown that's a model for success is The Brick Garage, which includes an ice cream shop and cafe at one end and mini-golf at the other.
The brick building on the banks of the river, owned by Peter and Cheryl Connelly, was once an auto dealership, and was renovated in 2013. The ice cream shop and cafe, which opened for the season the last week of April, moved this year from one end of the building into newly renovated space that includes an expanded cafe with comfortable indoor seating and a fireplace.
The back deck overlooks the river, falls and island and is the only restaurant in town, Beyer said.
The Connellys also own a newly renovated building across the street that Beyer said could become a farmer and craft market, with space in the back that was once a beauty salon revived.
The town has some other recent success and projects that are aimed at enhancing downtown, for both residents, potential businesses and visitors. One town officials are "very excited about" is the addition of the former jail and town office to the National Register of Historic Places earlier this month. It's the town's third building on the register. The town-owned property is being leased by the Island Falls Historical Society.
"We hope it will be something people want to visit," Beyer said. "A place for people to come and see."
Streetlights are being switched to LED lighting, which will cost $36,000, but will be 80% cheaper to operate.
A $125,000 grant from the Gloria C. MacKenzie Foundation will pay for upgrades to the town municipal building and gym, including adding an accessible ramp in, insulating walls and upgrading the heat system and floor. "Our municipal building is a multi-purpose use facility, we have a gym and a meeting room and, of course, the town office in it, which serves the towns of Island Falls and Crystal," Beyer said.
"Our dream," Beyer said, is to build a river walk that incorporates a stone causeway that crosses a section of the river to an island behind downtown. The town has been working on that project for a couple of months, she said.
It's another element that will bring people downtown, and hopefully also lure business.
Courtesy / Katahdin Gazeteer
A rendering shows how Houlton Road, Island Falls' main street, seen here in front of the Brick Garage, and a park and walkway to the island in the Mattawamkeag River could look.
Part of a bigger picture
Beyer also asked organizers if the town could be part of the Katahdin Gazetteer project, which includes the Penobscot County towns of Millinocket, East Millinocket, Medway, Sherman, Stacyville, Mount Chase and Patten.
While Island Falls is in Aroostook County, it has much in common with those towns, Beyer said. She said the towns economic development report mirrors the bigger Katahdin Gazetteer in many ways, outlining action for future growth.
The Katahdin Gazetteer project, which included 18 months gathering community input on the future of the reason and economic development, recently released its report. Island Falls is featured in the report's section on fostering vibrant villages.
Mike Elliot, Katahdin region economic director, said the addition was welcome. "It's a regional effort," he said. Any town's win "is a win for the region."
He said the town has a lot to offer, and the former starch plant is a good place to start — it's on the rail line, and close to U.S. Route 2 and Interstate 95. The site is also "clean" in that it doesn't have any toxic residue issues that would require cleanup.
He said the town's infrastructure work is also the example of things that can be done in other towns in the region.
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The Island Falls Opera House, long vacant, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984.
Getting building owner buy-in
One downtown issue that's a tough nut to crack are empty buildings owned by out-of-state landlords, often LLCs.
"The owners can be hard to get in touch with," Beyer said. "You send them mail and it comes back. You may just want them to board up some windows so the pigeons don't get in."
As long as they pay their taxes, which most do, the town can't do much.
One example is the town's Opera House, a rambling four-story L-shaped building at the intersection of Route 159 and two town roads, which has been vacant for years. It was listed for sale in 2016, but it's not clear if it still is. Built in 1894, it started out as a store and theater, and has been a movie theater, residence and many other uses.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Elliot said it's a problem that's difficult to solve, but the more buy-in on the focus on redevelopment, the more property owners will come around.
When he looks at vacant buildings, "I see opportunities," he said.
Elliot, who also has a real estate investment company, said, "When I see a property in distress, I say 'What opportunity is there?'
"If we bring more people in, and they fall in love with the area, they'll see it, too," he said.
He said it's part of the entrepreneurial mindset. "It's a mindset that solves problems, and if we're adding value, folks in the community are going to be enthusiastic." He said that enthusiasm will spread to people outside of the community.
Beyer said Island Falls already has that mindset.
"We are very positive," she said. "We know it can work. We just need to do something, just to get it going."
Island Falls
Image / Google maps
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Anonymous
July 8, 2021
I am a former resident of Oakfield some 25 yrs ago, What about developing Island Falls as a sport stop, cycling, fishing, of course hunting , sled dogs, the old ski hill. etc. hiking , a family place for flatlanders to visit. such a shame to see our small towns folding up, everywhere .
Anonymous
July 23, 2020
I agree with the historical connection. There are a ton of people looking for land in Maine, especially in todays climate. This is the time to highlight the area.
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