7 February 2025
VAN BUREN, Maine – The restoration of an old building on Main Street into a new arts center is the first project to receive what’s known as a Lightning Stabilization Grant from a recently created entity that supports redevelopment projects around Maine.
The $25,000 grant will help Van Buren to turn the vacant structure at 68 Main St. into the Acadian Arts Center, after the building was previously considered for demolition. The work will help to winterize the building and fully replace the roof of the Farrell-Hammond-Keegan Building, which formerly housed the Et Cetera shop. The work is meant to ensure that the building can be preserved while interior renovations happen.
It’s the first grant of its kind from the Maine Redevelopment Land Bank Authority, which was created through state legislation in 2022 to help revive vacant properties.
“We are thrilled Van Buren is our first grant awardee,” said Tuck O’Brien, executive director of the authority. “Their project will not only preserve an important piece of Van Buren’s history but will also provide a boost to the local economy by attracting visitors and supporting the arts.”
O’Brien said that it was an exciting milestone in the authority’s ongoing efforts to revitalize vacant properties.
The Van Buren space will be cleaned out next Thursday on Feb. 13, allowing the town to do a building survey and continue moving forward with the project, according to Van Buren Town Manager Luke Dyer.
During a Feb. 5 town council meeting, Dyer noted that town officials had at one point considered tearing the building down, and he credited the authority with helping to preserve historic community buildings.
“This building was potentially too far gone to be worth trying to save,” he said, “but the goal of the redevelopment land bank is to quickly fix those structures and protect them, because it is a historic building.”
The new arts center will contain a fully accessible public gallery, an arts education program and exhibitions that celebrate the region’s French-Canadian heritage, as well as contemporary art.
Dyer said the arts center could also be used as a space for community meetings.
Last fall, the Rivertown Community Arts Center opened in Fort Kent. The nonprofit center garnered over 100 paid memberships less than a week after opening its doors.
Dyer said he recently spoke to Rivertown founder Jenna Jandreau about collaborating, and having instructors based at the Fort Kent center come to Van Buren to teach creative and art-focused classes. He said the town of Van Buren could hire the instructors through the Rivertown organization or even through grant funding.
Dyer said Jandreau was receptive to the idea of collaborating, as Rivertown Arts Center is geared toward the entire St. John Valley, and has members from other communities such as Madawaska.
“I think her vision and my vision for both our town and the valley are pretty much in line,” he said. “I think it would be a good relationship going forward for all the communities up here.”