WERU Special- Downtowns 5/14/14

Producer/Host: Matt Murphy
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Downtown and Main Street in Maine Special

Summary:
The “Downtown Movement” is alive and well in Maine and we’ll explore both the concept and details of downtown revitalization in Maine. What is the history of downtowns in Maine? What is a healthy downtown and how do communities get there? What can the public do to support downtowns? What are the controversial elements of downtown revitalization? We explore these questions and more.

Topics:
Definition of “downtown”
Guests’ organizations’ roles in downtown movement
History of downtown in Maine
Elements of healthy downtown and how a town can get there
Hurdles to overcome
Examples
Maine Downtown Conference

Guests:
Meredith Jones, Executive Director of Maine Community Foundation
Briana Pinkham Bebb, Executive Director of Our Town Belfast
Lorain Francis, Senior Program Director of Maine Development Foundation

Mid-Coast Currents (Debut show) 11/19/10

Producer/Host: John Zavodny, Unity College
Studio Engineer: Joel Mann

Topic: Maine Street Hits The Maine Coast: Downtown Revitalization in Rockland and Belfast

Why is downtown revitalization important to Maine? What is the Main Street program? What initiatives have been undertaken in Belfast and Rockland?

Guests:
Roxanne Eflin, Program Director, Maine Downtown Center, Maine Development Foundation, www.mdf.org, Maine State Coordinator of the National Trust Main Street Center;
Larraine Brown, Project Coordinator, Our Town Belfast
Lorain Francis, Executive Director, Rockland Main Street
Mike Hurley, Belfast City Council

Call in show