The question “What should I be?” is etched on the display windows at 43 Lisbon St. in Lewiston, with a web address, 43lisbon.com, printed underneath. Online visitors can vote for one of four options:

• Tear me down and build a park;

• Make me retail space;

• Make me a parking facility; or

• “I’ve got a better idea,” where voters enter their own, unique, notion.

Eric Agren, who, with wife Carrie, owns 43 and 49 Lisbon St., hatched this unusual plan because they are moving downtown and want to know what their neighbors think the building should become. The former owner, he said, wanted to tear down the vacant office building for a parking garage.

Agren wasn’t so sure. He’s building a condominium at 49 Lisbon St., known as Lyseum Hall, and opening a restaurant and wine bar named Fuel on the first floor. In March, the city named Agren to the Downtown Advisory Board. His day job is director of national sales for a division of Maytag, but he plans to be Fuel’s full-time owner/chef when the restaurant opens.

The online poll went live five months ago, said Agren, with 346 passers-by having been inspired through Tuesday, Sept. 26, to log on and vote. Preliminary results show an overwhelming winner, with about 95 percent of respondents choosing renovated retail space. It received our vote, too.

Respondents have also been specific with their opinions. Between 20 and 30 e-mailers, said Agren, have requested an upscale women’s clothing store as a retail option.

Agren should be congratulated for this creative venture. His search is relevant to dozens of other properties in Lewiston, especially downtown, where the buzzwords are now vision and potential, instead of vacancy and pessimism.

The poll will remain live for the next 30 days, Agren said, so there’s still time to vote. The final results will be posted in the 43 Lisbon St. window.

It’s gratifying to see a property owner sincerely interested in the community’s opinion, and we hope he weighs the results of his poll carefully when choosing his plans. It’s a nonbinding referendum, obviously, but Agren deserves credit for simply asking in the first place.