Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X I I I J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 9 8 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E phase of its capital campaign to fund a Home Hospice Center at a ground- breaking ceremony. To date, the orga- nization has raised $4.5 million of its $5.6 million goal to fund the center, including a recent $150,000 donation from Norway Savings Bank. Workers at Preble Street, a state- wide social service agency based in Portland, voted to form a union repre- sented by the Maine State Employees Association-Service Employees International Union Local 1989. Rumford seeks bids to save 'endangered' building e town of Rumford has issued a request for proposals for the sale and redevelopment of a historic downtown building at 109 Congress St. Known as the Clough & Pillsbury Building, it was listed in 2018 by Maine Preservation as one of the state's "Most Endangered Historic Places." According to the RFP, the board of selectmen "will make a B R I E F After voters approve zoning change, Ogunquit Playhouse eyes expansion B y R e n e e C o r d e s O G U N Q U I T — Long-planned renovations and expansion on the Ogunquit Playhouse can finally move ahead after voters on June 11 approved a needed zoning change. By a vote of 415 to 86, voters approved Question 5, which creates new zoning for the theater and preserves its status as a nonprofit performing arts theater, according to the town clerk's office. The result means that Executive Artistic Director Brad Kenney and his team can begin thinking about ways to bring the historic venue up to modern standards, which had been hampered by zoning. They will also seek to determine the price tag and then look at ways to raise the needed funds. Calling the result "extraordinary news," Kenney told Mainebiz "it's a bit overwhelming I think, not just the fact that it was accomplished but the margin by which it was accomplished." He noted that the historic building alone sits in three different zones, and there are a total of five zones going through the property. "That property is now zoned for all time only for the exclusive use of a nonprofit performing arts theater and other [related] uses," Kenney said. "I don't know if that's ever happened before." Asked about what's next, he said there will now be thinking and discussion on prioritizing need-based structural improve- ments such as making indoor restrooms accessible to people in wheelchairs and revamping a beloved historic venue. From a bigger-picture perspective, he also spoke of the Ogunquit Playhouse's mission "to be a new leader in American theater," not just in terms of what's on stage but also the theater-going experience for audience members. The Ogunquit Playhouse, located on Route One in the York County town whose sandy beaches and quaint boutiques are a huge tourist draw, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its roots go back to 1933, when Broadway showman Walter Hartwig and his wife, Maude, arrived in town to open a summer theater as part of the so-called Little Theater Movement of the 1920s and 1930s. Today it produces between five and seven musicals every year over the course of 25 weeks on its own stage as well as a holiday show at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, N.H., for an additional four weeks. P H O T O / R E N E E C O R D E S C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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