Development In Bangor

Featured Programs & Projects : Downtown Revitalization

For over three decades, the City of Bangor has implemented programs to preserve downtown's historic character and sense of place while assuring that it meets the needs of the community. Today, Downtown is a lively residential neighborhood, a showcase for effective building re-use projects, and the cultural center of the city.
Click Here for Downtown Design Guidelines (PDF - 118KB)

Some of our downtown success stories include:

The W. T. Grant Building, constructed after World War II, testified to Bangor's retail stature in eastern Maine. After an extensive period of under-utilization, the City purchased the building and returned it to significant retail use as the home of Epic Sports. The University of Maine System offices recently relocated to the buildin's upper stories.

In the heart of downtown, the 6-floor Freeses Building was vacant from the late 1980's through the mid 1990's when it was acquired by the City. Thanks to a combination of private and public investment, the building has re-emerged as a showpiece serving as an elderly and assisted living facility and home to the Maine Discovery Museum, the largest children's museum North of Boston and an attraction that draws visitors from eastern Maine and beyond.

The peeling paint and empty windows of the vacant Bangor Furniture Buildings created a derelict image on a major downtown arterial. Apartments, restaurants, and offices now fill the complex.  This project, along with two adjacent mixed use redevelopments, transformed  the character of two entire city blocks. All of these projects were assisted with Community Development loan funds.

For several decades, The Paramount Hotel Building was vacant and neglected. To stave off destruction of this historic and well designed structure, the City took possession, made emergency repairs, and marketed it for redevelopment. The building was purchased and converted to special needs housing by a state-assisted private non-profit that had previously renovated the adjacent building. Community Development loan funds provided a critical component of the project's financing.

A sizeable challenge grant by the City kick-started the fund-raising that enabled the University of Maine Museum of Art to open a new facility in downtown Bangor, occupying the first level of historic Norumbega Hall. Eastern Maine Development Corporation recently relocated to this building's second and third levels, returning it to full and active use.

Most recently, The Penobscot Theatre received Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to bring the theater up to all current American Disability Act (ADA) regulations. After many years of a deteriorating facade The Penobscot Theater is no longer a safety hazard as it has returned to its historical beauty it once had.

The Bangor Historical Society has been collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of Penobscot valley for over 140 years. The Bangor Museum and History Center is now under renovation at its new home on 25 Broad Street.  Once completed the new modern climate controlled facility will provide much needed space for exhibition, public programming and collections care as well as research.

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