RUMFORD – Seated in the high-ceilinged, ornately trimmed Municipal Auditorium, the newly formed Downtown Revitalization Committee began its work of trying to improve the economy Wednesday night.
During the next seven months, the committee will work with recently hired consultants, Kent Associates of Gardiner, to create a series of recommendations that could bring more life back into the once-bustling town.
“Once the study is done, the committee and selectmen will recommend what project to start with, then an implementation process will begin,” said Town Manager Steve Eldridge, who will serve as leader and contact person for the committee.
He estimated that the end of the study and the beginning of the implementation process will coincide with the time frame needed to apply for federal Community Development Black Grant funding.
The committee’s 10 members late last month took a walking tour of the town with Brian Kent and other members of his consulting team. The firm employs demographers, traffic surveyors, engineers, planners and other experts in fields related to aspects of economic development.
Among the questions to be answered are those related to where local people spend their money and how much of that could be brought back into the town, where people come from to shop in Rumford, and how traffic patterns affect the downtown area.
For example, said member Elizabeth Penney, the flow of traffic on Congress Street, considered the center of the town, takes people out of town rather than into it.
Members also discussed whether the focus should be on the so-called island section of town, which includes Congress Street, or on the Waldo Street area.
“We want to look at the downtown infrastructure. Whatever we do, we should do it well and make it sustainable,” said member Greg Buccina.
Eldridge said the town’s current long-term efforts, such as plans to develop land use and zoning regulations, and a Fire Department project to evaluate all homes and businesses for safety, will be provided to the consulting firm. Also, he said, he, representatives from the River Valley Growth Council and Kent will meet with Maine State Housing Authority representatives later in the month to discuss the housing situation in the Waldo Street area.
Housing, he said, is critical to the successful economic development of the town.
The committee plans to meet next with Kent within two weeks to give him direction on where his efforts should be focused, and to learn what tools his firm has to help develop a revitalization plan for the town.
“We have to have a plan to make anything work,” Eldridge said.
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