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V O L . X X V I I N O. X I I J U N E 1 4 , 2 0 2 1 6 prevention programs across the state from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and a $1.6 million grant from FEMA for the cost of shel- tering the city of Portland's high-risk population in non-congregate locations during the state's emergency response to coronavirus last year. Gov. Janet Mills announced that the ConnectMaine board of directors vot- ed to approve the first round of broad- band infrastructure projects funded by the High Speed Internet Infrastructure Bond approved by voters in July 2020. The $15 million bond will support 20 projects across 11 counties. The U.S. Small Business Administration launched a $100 million Community Navigator Pilot Program. The new initiative, estab- lished by the American Rescue Plan, will leverage a community navigator approach to reach the nation's small- est businesses, with a priority focus on those owned by socially and eco- nomically disadvantaged individuals, as well as women and veterans. The Courtyard Portland Downtown hotel completed the renovation of all 132 guest rooms and public spaces. Hancock Lumber in Casco an- nounced it will offer a full line of Marvin products across its 11 lum- beryards throughout Maine and New Hampshire. North Yarmouth Academy said that it received a $400,000 anonymous gift to create and support a character and service champion faculty position. REI Co-op, a national specialty out- door gear retailer, announced it will open a location at 90 Rock Row in Westbrook. Preble Street, a statewide social service agency based in Portland, assumed operations of the 44-bed Quarantine and Temporary Wellness Shelters in Lewiston that were previ- ously run by Community Concepts Inc. since early 2020. B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state B R I E F With fundraising goal met, Children's Museum sets an opening date B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n P O R T L A N D — A highly visible new children's museum on Thompson's Point in Portland now has an opening date. The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine plans to open to the public on June 24. The museum said it surpassed its capital campaign goal of $14 million, raising $15 million from more than 500 donors. A late surge in donations helped the museum restore aspects of the project it had previously tabled. The new 30,000-square-foot museum is expected to attract 200,000 people a year, double that of the previous location in downtown Portland. The museum is on a prominent spot at Thompson's Point, highly visible from I-295 and, potentially, carloads of visitors — though it will open with limited capacity and other protocols in place to protect visitors and staff during the pandemic. The opening will cap an effort launched in 2017 by former director Suzanne Olson, who retired in 2019 after leading the museum for two decades. The effort included selling its previous location on Free Street in downtown Portland, buying the Thompson's Point site and raising the funds. The baton was handed to Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino, who finished the project. In addition to the colorful new building itself, the museum will have a state-of-the-art Maddy's Theatre, a STEM sci- ence center, and a floor devoted to arts, culture and community. A key grant of $500,000 from the Lunder Foundation will anchor the endowment and help pay for ongoing initiatives to ensure that children of all backgrounds will have access to the museum's educational programs and exhibits. Donors included foundations, but also corporations (includ- ing leading corporate sponsor Poland Spring), families and "philanthropic individuals," the museum said. Many donors will have their gifts recognized with named exhibits, theater seats, benches or granite pavers. Maddy's Theatre is named for the mother of the honorary chair of the capital campaign, Maddy Corson, who was chair of Guy Gannett Communications and shares her birth mother's name. Midway through the campaign, philanthropist Dorothy Suzi Osher's gift "acted as a catalyst," the museum said, when she named the entire facility after her parents, Joseph A. and Anna Marie Petrin of Biddeford. The museum expects 200,000 annual visitors, double the old site. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded a total of $15,000 in grants to four Maine nonprofit organizations to support summer, family and adult literacy programs. U.S. Sens Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services received a total of $1.9 million to support cancer prevention programs across the state. The fund- ing was awarded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion. The department also received a total of $1.9 million to support diabetes and heart disease The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, more than four years in the making, is set to open June 24. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y DAV I D P R AT T P H O T O G R A P H Y N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E S T A T E W I D E N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N S O U T H E R N

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