Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center
The 41,212-square-foot, four-story Olde Federal Building in Augusta received a $140,000 grant to repair and insulate the slate roofing.
December 23, 2025
Preservation grants to support improvements in rural downtowns
Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center
In Dover-Foxcroft, the Center Theatre was awarded $77,280 for critical repair of the masonry columns.
Plans to convert an eye-catching historic building in downtown Augusta into a boutique hotel got a boost with a $140,000 grant to repair and insulate the slate roofing.
The 41,212-square-foot, four-story Olde Federal Building — with highlights such as a central tower and Romanesque arches — was built as a post office and courthouse in the late 1800s. It’s a contributing structure in the Augusta Water Street National Register Historic District.
Local developer Andrew LeBlanc and Nate DeLois with Uncommon Hospitality told Mainebiz earlier this year that they want to convert the 19th century building into a 40-key boutique hotel.
The money for the roof was one of four awards by Maine Downtown Center through the REvitalizeME Downtown National Park Service sub-grant program.
Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center
In Skowhegan, the J. Palmer Merrill Building dates back to 1908 and is part of the town’s historic district.
Maine Downtown Center is a program of the Maine Development Foundation, a nonprofit in Hallowell.
Economic development
A total of $600,000 was awarded to four historic preservation projects. The historic buildings are considered critical to their rural community’s economic development, according to a news release.
“All of these awards will support catalytic projects in Maine downtowns,” said Anne Ball, Maine Downtown Center’s program director. “The program set out to drive the connection between economic development and historic preservation.”
The projects are in four downtowns in four different Maine counties and in four distinct building types: a former federal courthouse and post office, a theater, a downtown commercial building and former jail.
Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center
The Ellsworth Historical Society’s project to preserve the Old Hancock County Sheriff’s Home and Jail, seen at top, will be advanced with a $185,770 grant to repair woodworking.
“In addition to enabling owners to be good stewards of their buildings, these projects help sustain businesses and jobs in our downtowns, further supporting economic growth,” Ball said.
Woodworking, copper flashing
The awards prevailed through a competitive process aimed at identifying new opportunities that are expected to have a fundamental impact on economic revitalization and historic preservation.
Last year, the Ellsworth Historical Society’s project to preserve the Old Hancock County Sheriff’s Home and Jail, dating back to 1886, as a museum and cultural heritage center reached a milestone with the completion of exterior renovations.
That project will be advanced with Maine Downtown Center’s grant of $185,770 for repair of woodworking on the south wall of the cellblock and on the west and north faces of the building.
In Dover-Foxcroft, the Center Theatre was awarded $77,280 for critical repair of the masonry columns.
In Skowhegan, the J. Palmer Merrill Building dates to 1908 and is part of the town’s historic district. A $152,508 grant will go toward repair of the roof and original copper flashing and reopening the historic skylights.
MDF’s partner in the effort was the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
The REvitalizeME Downtown sub-grant program was funded by the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants program of the National Park Service. The objective of the program is to support the rehabilitation of historic properties that will drive economic development in rural communities.
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