The impending departure of Drapeau’s from Lisbon Street should remove any remaining disguise from downtown’s dire straits. New owner Kim Cornish is taking the landmark costume shop, Maine’s largest, to Lisbon Falls, after more than 50 years in the heart of Lewiston.

It’s not for lack of trying to stay.

“I’m a Lewiston girl,” says Cornish. While peering out through Drapeau’s storefront windows, she can easily rattle off memories of traveling downtown to her favorite stores, and their subsequent exodus over the past few decades.

The building is old. The roof leaks. At $3.75 per-square-foot for the lease, however, it’s a bargain, but not when thousands of dollars in repairs are needed, says Cornish. The new place on Main Street in Lisbon Falls is modern, the same size, and only costs $150 more per-month to own, instead of rent.

Once gone, the former Drapeau’s will be added to a burgeoning roster of vacancies along Lisbon Street, highlighted by the gap-tooth streetscape where four buildings were claimed by fire in December. The empties have “created an emergency,” City Administrator Jim Bennett told the City Council recently.

Bennett’s words are an understatement. The fire crystallized the reality of Lisbon Street: That the Southern Gateway has overtaken the avenue’s historic heart as its economic base, and its future prospects are grim. Drapeau’s exit, which is planned for April, is the latest evidence.

To spread the wealth, Bennett is proposing a massive tax increment financing plan to spur construction north of the gateway. The TIF would make it financially feasible, in the city’s view, to build in downtown by counteracting bottoming rents and property values.

It would also, we hope, spark construction of more desirable properties. Cornish tried to find other spaces in Lewiston – “I called everywhere with a ‘for lease’ sign,” she says – only to be stymied by a dearth of attractive options. Some new construction could have changed that.

The TIF is a worthwhile idea. If the Southern Gateway is any indication, development is possible with the proper combination of municipal bending, without breaking the taxpayer’s wallet. A mysterious new project promising a 400-job edifice in the gateway is proof positive.

We would rather see downtown bustle, instead of languish, and residents should be willing to sacrifice a few dollars to see it happen.

TIFs are controversial, however. Rep. Deborah Simpson, D-Auburn, for example, has introduced legislation to prohibit allowing TIFs for retail development.

Though nobly intentioned, municipalities shouldn’t be hamstrung from offering TIFs, as L-A has done aggressively, and successfully, to attract development and control growth.

A similar hardline approach is needed for downtown, and a TIF for Lisbon Street would be as forceful as they come. The Lewiston’s City Council would be wise to shepherd this plan into place.

It won’t save Drapeau’s, but it could draw the curtain on more businesses exiting downtown.