Mainebiz

V O L . X X I V N O. X I P hotos snapped a few years ago of the 1th century Lewiston Deposit & Trust building at Lisbon St., in Lewiston, show marble upper-story fl oors, rich with creamy speckling. It turns out they're wood fl oors, inundated with pigeon droppings. " ese rooms were closed up by the time we got here, but the pigeons had been here for a while, so the whole place was covered with drop- pings," Kevin Morin says wryly, as he displays "before" photos on his phone. Now it's "after," and Morin and his wife Dianna Pozdniakov, have com- pleted the building's award-winning renovation. After projects like tear- ing out old asbestos, putting in new sheetrock, refi nishing those fl oors and repurposing original elements like gas light fi xtures as LED sconces, they've installed their apartment on the third fl oor and a rental on the second. On the street level, they have Pozdniakov's handbag business, Sofi a Fima, plus event and collaborative workspace. It's part of a change taking place in downtown Lewiston. It's a work in progress, as owners, users and inves- tors buy and renovate buildings, many of which date to the 1th century, and convert them for retail, restaurants, offi ces and residences. "We've been very pleased with the investments we're seeing," says Lincoln Jeff ers, director of the Lewiston Economic and Community Development Department. "We've had downtown buildings that have been vacant on the upper fl oors for many years. But they have great his- torical character. And they're getting bought and redeveloped." P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S Lisbon Street rebirth Lewiston's downtown is being refitted for retail, restaurants and residences B Y L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R M AY 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 14 Dianna Pozdniakov, founder and designer of Sofi a Fima, and her husband Kevin Morin, owner of PoMo and Co., in the retail ground-fl oor space in the Lisbon Street building they renovated.

• Cover