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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 JA N UA R Y 8 , 2 0 1 8 "In 1972, Lisbon Street was boom- ing," he says. "We had retail stores open on both sides, all the way up and down Lisbon Street. When you'd walk out the door, you'd bump into people on the sidewalks. It was always packed." Eric Agren, owner of the Lewiston restaurants Fuel and Marche, grew up here. He says that, like Poliquin, cus- tomers of his parents' generation speak fondly of Lisbon Street as a thriving retail and restaurant sector before the mills' decline. But by the late 1980s and early '90s, " e overall feeling was that downtown Lewiston was not a safe place to go," Agren says. " ere were bars and clubs that seemed a little seedy. ere were incidents of prostitution and drugs on Lisbon Street. I'm not sure how rampant that was. But the overall feeling was that it was a dump." Today, L/A's downtowns are pick- ing up again. When Agren opened Fuel in 2009, he detected a synergy taking place — more commercial and residential activity, as buyers picked up properties for a song and redevel- oped them for fi rst-fl oor retail and upper-story residential. Agren is one of those developers, buying buildings with features like original tin ceilings and hardwood fl oors and redeveloping them as high-end condominiums. "Collectively, we've put multiple millions into the downtown," Agren says of his own and others' eff orts, citing buildings that were boarded up until less than a decade ago, but are today full of enterprise. But more is needed for a healthy future, he says. " e more businesses and restau- rants that are downtown, the better," he says. "It creates a place to go. ere are a lot of great venues, but it's not a cohesive downtown. You go to Fuel and have dinner. You go to Guthrie's for live music on Friday night. But you don't say, 'Let's go down to Lisbon Street.' I'd love to see that happen someday." Many of these businesses, newcom- ers and long-timers, are L/A-grown. " ere's always been great innova- tion here," says Lewiston Economic & Community Development Department Director Lincoln Jeff ers. "'How do we get this done? Let's fi gure it out.' at heritage lives on in the community." Jason Levesque, Auburn's mayor and owner of Argo Customer Centers in Lewiston, views L/A as ripe for drawing more companies from outside the area, particularly those facing a space crunch in greater Portland; as well as workers at southern Maine companies who could fi nd aff ordable homes in L/A and com- mute or telecommute to work. " at will, for the future, create a sustainable pipeline of activity," Levesque says. "You've got to build a foundation for businesses, yet to be invented, to be here." Economic effi ciency questions, raised by the merger proposal, can be addressed at the local level without a merger, he says. "Lewiston and Auburn have unique assets," he says. "We focus on our unique assets, and both cities will rise. What's good for Auburn is good for Lewiston and vice versa." Building the self-image Andrew Knight arrived from Washington, D.C., to develop the Agora Grand Event Center and Inn at the Agora from Lewiston's former St. Patrick's Church and Rectory. Both proved successful, he says. "I found it to be a great city, good quality of living, low unemployment, good infrastructure," he says. Still, he was frustrated by his ini- tial reception from residents, along the lines of, "'Why would you come here, it's nothing but crack and knife fi ghts,'" he recalls. " ere has to be a change of perspective in the people who live here." Scott Benson, economic and busi- ness development director for the Lewison-Auburn Economic Growth Council, agrees that L/A's attractions might not be front of mind for resi- dents who witnessed the cities' decline as a manufacturing colossus. "How many families worked at Bates Mill and were fed and clothed and nur- tured?" Benson says. "When those jobs went away, people don't just forget about that. I don't think it's unusual that the cities' self-image has suff ered somewhat." e cities and the business com- munities, he says, could do a better job of telling the story of transformation. "Expansions, additions of jobs — these companies would not be doing this if this were not a good place for them to do business," he says. "I think we all can do a better job of celebrating what's great, recognizing and address- ing our weaknesses, but not disregard- ing our many strengths." "We'd like to get the good news out there," agrees Jeff ers. "I think the cities work well together. Our driving force is the local businesses and the businesses wanting to come to the area. One community or the other may be able to better serve them. Auburn has the air- port and better rail, and Lewiston has much more of the historic mills and historic downtown. Is there competi- tion between the two cities? Yes. Is it friendly and respectful? Yes." Coincidentally, he echoes Levesque: "What's good for Lewiston is good for Auburn and vice versa." L S , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t @ . Bates Mill continues to grow T he Bates Mill Complex in Lewiston continues to attract occupants. Platz Associates Principal Tom Platz purchased most of the complex, excluding Mill 5, from the city in 2004 and redeveloped seven buildings. He's since leased 490,000 of the 650,000 square feet of space. In 2017, that includes the healthcare company Grand Rounds in 25,000 square feet and two food-related businesses in 15,000 square feet. He recently fi elded inquiries for another 100,000 square feet from two Boston businesses. The campus's largest building — the two-story, 350,000-square-foot Mill 5 — remains unoccupied. "We have some viable candidates but we haven't started renovations," he says. The complex dates back to Bates Manufacturing Co.'s textile roots in the 1850s. Once Maine's largest employer, Bates at its 1950s peak employed more than 6,000. Growth council's shifting status T he Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council started in 1981 so the cit- ies could work effectively together for the benefi t of both, offering business expansion, fi nancing and site location services. Over the past year, Lewiston and Auburn's city councils voted to end the organization's funding. As a result, the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is in the process of acquiring the growth council, with Scott Benson and part-time loan portfolio manager John Belisle likely joining the chamber. "People might tend to see the changes the growth council has had over the past couple of years as a sign that it would end," Benson says. "Really what needed to happen was we needed to take stock of where we were and what was needed as a regional player. We've done that. I think we'll be better and stronger as we go forward with the chamber." Among the growth council's successes: Servicing $3 million in revolving loans to 35 business, with another $900,000 available to lend. Played a key role in business attraction of new industry to L/A, including the 850,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Lewiston, and more recently, Grand Rounds, a San Francisco-based health care company opening its fi rst East Coast offi ces in Lewiston. Worked with local development partners to fi nance and construct new com- mercial/industrial buildings and business parks to accommodate the expan- sions of new and existing companies. P H O T O / R U S S D I L L I N G H A M Bates Mill No. 5. The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are The more businesses and restaurants that are downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. downtown, the better. It creates a place to go. — Eric Agren Restaurateur

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