NORWAY – Gov. John Baldacci will tour the C.B. Cummings & Son mill complex Wednesday.

Economic development leaders say they hope local people will turn out to join Baldacci on the 2 p.m. tour, as a show of support for the redevelopment project.

The tour come on the heels of last week’s Blaine House Conference on the Creative Economy where the governor’s vision for revitalizing Maine’s economy was showcased inside the huge Bates Mill complex in Lewiston.

The C.B. Cummings mill complex, in the heart of downtown, offers promise as a vital example of the creative economy in action, says Brett Doney, chief executive officer for Western Maine Development.

WMD was unsuccessful in this year’s state competition for $400,000 in Community Development Block Grant Funding.

“But that’s okay. We’re going to try again,” Doney said. The agency is working with metal contractors to clean up the site and will soon put out a request for proposals for use of the mill’s office buildings beside Pennesseewassee Stream.

The agency is working with the Maine Department of Transportation to seek support for a pedestrian bridge and trails on the property. It’s working with the Maine Arts Commission to develop ideas to create a kind of “artisan design center that could be a kind of an incubator for entrepreneurs,” Doney said.

Officials and volunteers from the town of Norway and Norway Downtown Revitalization have also been brainstorming ideas for reuse of the mill space, Doney said.

“We want to send the message to the governor that this is an important project for the region, and we’re all working in partnership on it,” he said.

Prior to the mill tour, Baldacci will be at a 1 p.m. groundbreaking at the Oxford Hills Business Park on Route 26. He’s scheduled for appearances throughout the day in support of the Oxford County Democratic Committee’s candidates in the state election.