Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
BRACING FOR CUTS
Bull killed in Chelsea field; night hunting suspected
HALLOWELL Shea takes on role as interim manager
Vigil set for crash victim
WEST GARDINER CHARITY IN A SHOE BOX
Hartland man dies battling fire; 'no replacing him'
Brewers to make decision on Rogers
WINTER PRACTICES UNDER WAY
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
Officials to brainstorm on energy
License probe leads to indictment
Fireman collapses at fire, dies later
Waterville, Winslow back school plan revision
SKOWHEGAN Pit stop reopens in spot next door
ADOPTION LAW TO TAKE EFFECT
Brewers must make decision on Rogers
Switching gears for new season
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
What do you see?
A smattering of stores, restaurants and offices line either side of the primarily one-way street that parallels the Kennebec River. But mostly, there are empty three- and four-story brick buildings. Buildings hundreds of years old. Buildings with history.
This is Augusta's traditional downtown business district.
"It has the greatest potential, but historically it's been the biggest challenge," Mayor Roger Katz said.
Its future, Katz and city officials say, lies across the river.
Community leaders have pinned much of their hopes for the revitalization of what they like to call the "riverfront," eschewing the more familiar "downtown" label, on a North Carolina firm's $10 million vision to renovate the historic Kennebec Arsenal on the river's opposite shore.
Initial plans call for a small hotel, restaurant and retail and office space, with riverview condominiums and apartments in a second phase.
The idea -- the hope -- is that success on one riverbank will flow across to the other.
BUILT BY COMMERCE
The capital city's downtown storefronts are the last remnants of a commercial lifeblood that flowed for more than 150 years, linking the community's riverfront docks with a busy warehouse industry and retail district, explained Maine Historic Preservation Commission Director Earle Shettleworth Jr.
Water Street developed as the city's central business district shortly after the Revolutionary War. Wharves served busy Kennebec River commercial shipping traffic, Shettleworth said.
"The close proximity of the commercial wharves and warehouses are what I think really developed the street and the business district," he said. "Prior to the 1850s, there was no delivery of goods by rail so all the goods came by water, so you (as a merchant) would want to have your wharf and your storage warehouse and store all in close proximity to each other."
The architecture along Water Street today came as the result of devastating fires in 1862 and 1865, he said. When the business district was rebuilt in subsequent years, owners built fire-resistant brick structures.
Trade in the area first began with the Cushnoc Trading Post in 1623 on the eastern side of the Kennebec River, Shettleworth said. Fort Western was established in 1754 nearby the trading post with a strong merchantile component to its function.
By the time the city's first bridge was constructed in 1797, the state historic preservation director said, commercial centers were already strongly established both on the east side of the river with the fort and the trading post and along Water Street on the western riverfront. The location of the bridge was selected to link the community's two commercial centers.
The downtown area's golden era ran from about 1800 to 1960, he said.
Not until the early 1960s, following the post-World War II increase in ownership of automobiles, did the fortunes of Augusta's downtown begin to fade, he said. That period coincided with the development of shopping centers and retail development along the city's major traffic arteries.
"In the '60s and '70s, you begin to have people leaving the downtown for shopping centers," Shettleworth said. "Up until then, it was the commercial center of the city. If you wanted to go buy a hat or a suit or a dress or go to a soda fountain or a five-and-10, there was no other place to go."
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE
Today, Water Street struggles to hold onto its retail character.
A handful of dedicated store and restaurant owners cling to their businesses in the belief that better times are ahead and the area's riverfront location eventually will flourish.
Until then, the area's image suffers from the empty storefronts and the use of several of them for commercial or office space.
Thanks to state policies that encourage state agencies to locate in traditional downtown areas along with private businesses like his law firm, Katz said, Augusta's business district has benefited from the presence of office workers during the day. But Augusta's downtown is still searching for ways to encourage more retail, entertainment and residential development in the area.
The first-term mayor has hopes of establishing a new relationship with the University of Maine at Augusta, known for its musicians and artists. He wants to encourage artistic students to take up residence in upper levels of downtown buildings, opening up the downtown as a venue for their artwork.
He's preparing a similar message as part of a graduation speech he has been asked to deliver at the university. Other communities have made similar efforts work, Katz said.
"These folks would all live in a kind of cultural colony" that would lend its flavor throughout the area, he said. "I know there are building codes and other issues to overcome. But we aren't going to accomplish anything if we don't try."
AN OUTSIDER'S VIEW
Mark Lapping, a public policy and planning professor at the University of Southern Maine, said the downtown development Katz is so keen to pursue will continue to be a struggle.
"It doesn't happen quickly," Lapping said. "It's one property at a time. One entrepreneur at a time. One development at a time."
While in Unity, he said, he found himself gravitating to the capital city for needs such as medical services. That and frequent visits to state government over the years have led him to build a personal affection and appreciation for Augusta.
Despite that, he recognizes the difficulties faced by the city -- difficulties he said are faced by many older cities and by other capital cities around the nation.
Few state capitals have an economic and cultural vitality of their own separate from state government.
"I call it the Harrisburg (Pa.) effect," Lapping said. "A lot of people come into the city for work to do state business. But at 4:30 p.m. or so, there's a huge sucking sound and that is those people leaving. If you can keep people there, it makes a difference. But like Hallowell, that takes a sense of drama, a sense of theater (in the community) and things happening."
The success of neighboring Hallowell's downtown makes a similar move along Water Street that much harder, Lapping said. "That's some very real competition," he said.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
The focus on revitalizing a traditional downtown, however, can distract from the advantages of newer forms of development, said Charles Colgan, chairman of the Muskie School of Public Service Community Planning and Development Program at the University of Southern Maine.
"Augusta and Bangor are classic edge cities," he said, with both commercial and residential development following the heavily traveled highway system.
"A lot of people think that's a dreadful idea, but I think it's a very positive thing," said Colgan, formerly of Readfield. "It's a way a lot of cities have developed and a way a lot of cities have revived their overall economies. You couldn't stuff that development on Water Street."
Former City Councilor Judith Johnson-Marsano, who operates an antiques business in Hallowell, said Augusta's building codes and regulations discourage the kinds of uses that have been successful in Hallowell.
"If they want the downtown to develop, they've got to relax the (building) codes," Johnson-Marsano said. "That's how Hallowell does it."
Lester "Les" Wilkinson Jr., chairman of the city's comprehensive plan effort, said he expects Augusta's traditional downtown business district to grow "incrementally." The older buildings have difficult architectural problems that require time and money.
Devoted building owners will take on the challenges, he said. But those same challenges will prevent a quick makeover.
"It really is a matter of getting the critical mass," the mayor said. "We're certainly not there yet."
"Augusta is a terrific place to live now," Katz added. "But with a vibrant riverfront, we can really take off."
Gary Remal -- 621-5642
gremal@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
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Get a committe together and your planning director as chairman and put some ideas together,get some input from the citizens of augusta. Some suggestions are,a waterfront park with walkways along the river. Turn the buildings into apartment or condos,that will help to bring people downtown. Put in parking areas that can be used for the warerfront park and also for the appartment dwellers and the shops that would come in. Good parking is a priority for good business. Put a nice dock in on the river and get someone to bring in a river boat,paddle type like on the Missisippi river and have diner cruises or day cruises down river to the ocean. Send someone to Portland,Oregon to talk to the city planner there,they have a river going thru the city,a waterfront park and they have taken out tho slum area of the down town and made it a beautyfull place to live by coverting the old wharhouses into nice apartments and condos with shops on the lower levels plus resturants. In order to do this you may have to start an urban development for the downtown in order to have some money to get it going. This would give building owners help in convering the old buildings and also bring in investors to buy the old buildings or put up some new ones. From what I saw,you need new appartment buildings,the ones I saw while growing up in Augusta are still there,over 60 years old or more. Build some low cost housing on water street along the park,senior housing is also an option. There is federal money available to do this. It can be done. report abuse
A little theater like in Waterville would be welcomed too. Boat rides sound nice. But again it seems like a day time thing to me, not a night time. And why is it that they are so centered on a night life down there and not day?
I do not understand the thought behind making it an arts center. Why not get in what you can for shops and go from there. Limiting the shops allowed simply makes it that much harder to fill the street I would think.
Parking on the street is indeed difficult, but there is a parking garage right up the street. I like the idea listed about a monorail. But what about the trolley that runs durring Whatever Week. Could that be put into use during the rest of the summer? From the Civice Center to Water Street and the Sears Mall Complex. report abuse
There are several cities nationally who have commissioned world class architects for private and public building designs.Once these building are realized and built they become magnets for tourists drawing hundreds of thousands of people annually who come to view these world class works of art .Augusta had the opportunity for a world class architect to design the new library addition but passed on it.
But what do you expect? The people are only as high as the elected officials who lead them. The politicians can only take the voters and taxpayers to where they are. Does the word Oatmeal resonate with you?report abuse
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