“I think in 10 years from now, every one of us is going to look back and say, ‘I was part of that and I’m proud.'”

– Lewiston City Administrator Robert Mulready, Oct. 14, 1997.

Mulready was right.

Ten years ago today, the “Bates Mill Master Plan” was unveiled. Homegrown architect Tom Platz presented a stunning redevelopment proposal for the historic mills, leading to the restoration of Lewiston’s downtown.

Central to the 1997 plan was Mill No. 5, the sprawling saw-toothed superstructure, and newest building in the complex, built in the 1910s. Though Bates of Maine still operated inside the massive edifice in 1997, the space was immediately touted for its potential as a world-class convention center.

And touted….and touted. For a decade.

Yet Mill No. 5 today is far from this destiny. Two referendums, an L/A Excels and the creative economy have failed to conjure what this potential needs most for fulfillment: money. The 350,000-square-foot mill is now perhaps both the biggest asset – and problem – for future downtown Lewiston and Auburn development.

Yet despite the time and money sunk into Mill No. 5, few are sure, still, what to do. The city is divided: as millions are earmarked for its demolition, officials say a convention center is plausible, albeit with “giant asterisks.”

A 15-member committee is now evaluating uses for Mill No. 5; its report is due by February. Even so, City Administrator Jim Bennett has cautioned, a final decision could still take years.

Each passing day the mill stands empty, it’s link to the past futher weakens, along with its structural integrity. Mill No. 5 is no better positioned for redevelopment today than 10 years, or even five years, ago. In fact, the mill’s current situation could be its most pessimistic.

The momentum that pushed other mill projects and the Southern Gateway is slowing. Legislative support for funding mechanisms to build a convention center, such as local option taxes, is nonexistent. The last effort in 2005 was ignored by lawmakers, scuttling hopes for Lewiston and a hotel/convention center in Portland.

In December 1997, the former city manager of Portland, Robert Ganley, told the Sun Journal that a convention center in his city is an idea that “never quite dies, yet one that hasn’t any real life, either.” Just as Mulready was prophetic about the plan, Ganley’s words have proven just as prescient.

Those involved in the Bates mill plans in 1997 should be proud. From the vantage of DaVinci’s outdoor patio on warm afternoon, for example, the gleaming mill buildings are a testament to the will of its visionaries.

Yet there remains a major challenge – Mill No. 5 – which has had 10 prosperous years to seize its potential.

Officials are correct to call it the key to downtown, certainly.

The question, however, is what continuing to chase 10-year-old dreams can possibly unlock.