RUMFORD — A chunk of land on which buildings in various stages of disrepair stand is being marketed via the Internet, Town Manager Carlo Puiia said Monday in an e-mail report.

Town officials are using search engine Google to invite developers and investors to work with Rumford to turn the blighted and vacant housing at the corners of Lincoln Avenue and Waldo and Cumberland streets into new commercial development.

“Sophisticated advertisers today use the Internet, especially using the search engine Google to draw traffic to a website,” Puiia said.

The area has been designated as the Gateway project. Planning has been under way since last fall by selectmen and their Economic Development Committee, which is chaired by Phil Blampied.

“The Gateway site is considered prime commercial real estate since it sits right on U. S. Route 2 and is located directly across from the Hannaford supermarket, with a traffic count that exceeds 10,000 vehicles per day,” Puiia said.

The town hired economic development advocate and volunteer Blampied to develop a website, create a video and contact prospective developers to redevelop the site into a location for businesses, he said.

At its last meeting, the committee and selectmen agreed to sign on to the Google paid links program. Known as Google Adwords, the effort will draw more traffic to the website www.rumfordgateway.com, Puiia said.

To start, the committee decided to do a 90-day trial of the program.

“The first thing browsers see when opening the page is the video made about the Gateway area,” Puiia said.

“It is a two-minute promotion inviting investors and developers to contact the town to discuss redeveloping the Gateway block.”

Rumford will only be billed when an Internet user actually clicks on the link and goes to the site, Puiia said.

“The Google program will serve as a silent salesman for the town, working every day to present our case to prospective developers and investors all over North America,” he said.

“If we can attract new commercial development to that block, it will bring jobs, new tax revenue, new services and shopping for the town, as well as providing an attractive new vista for people driving into Rumford on Rt. 2 from the east.”

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