LEWISTON – The Franco-American Heritage Center will re-examine its role in the community – studying what it can do well, and what jobs might be best left to others – as it receives nearly $700,000 in federal grants.
Most of the money will go to fixes in the former church’s roof and its granite exterior.
However, the organization plans to spend almost $40,000 in a reappraisal of its long-term goals, which included a museum, learning center, library, archive, office and function hall.
“We know we don’t have the space to have it all,” said Rita Dube, the center’s executive director. The $40,000 will cover the cost of studying the issue, coming up with a business plan and designing the changes of the center’s basement.
It’s the center’s next logical step, Dube said.
“The performance hall is very nice, but we don’t want just that,” she said. Ever since the center was created, its aim was to teach as well as entertain.
One of the most popular events is something called “French Fridays,” said Laurent Gilbert, the center’s interim president.
The monthly meetings draw more than 200 people each time for a catered lunch, a performance and lots of talk, all in French.
“It brings the Franco community together, especially the aged community,” Gilbert said.
With changes, Gilbert hopes the center can help Lewiston become a tourist destination, perhaps working with Museum L/A and other local institutions.
Meanwhile, the landmark’s preservation will go into a new phase next month.
Repairs to the roof and new sections of the exterior will be rehabbed, though masons have been working off and on for more than three years.
In those sections that have been untouched, water has crept into the granite walls, cracking both stone and cement.
Work on the roof is slated to begin next month.
Leaks have formed above the remodeled performance hall, dripping water onto aisles and fixtures.
One light exploded its metal cap and burst into a shower of sparks when someone flipped a light switch, recently.
“It was like a show was going on,” Dube said.
The federal money, much of which was matched with private donations, will help make those changes possible.
This week, Maine’s senators announced a $297,000 grant for the center from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and two grants, totaling $400,600, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program.
The center’s Little Canada home – a federally recognized enterprise zone and one of the poorest neighborhoods in Maine – has made the center especially eligible for a series of grants.
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