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Downtown Revitalization

Before (click to enlarge)
After (click to enlarge)

In 2018, Sanford’s elected officials called for a renewed focus on Municipal investment in downtown Sanford. As a result, the city manager, key city staff and downtown stakeholders began holding monthly conversations in what became known as the “Downtown Meeting.”   Above are some renditions of what a multi-modal path around Number One Pond could look like.  A couple of significant actions have resulted from these meetings, including program applications to the state CDBG office in 2019 and the MaineDOT in 2020 and 2021.

Midtown Mall and Infrastructure Improvements

The CDBG application in 2019, approved by the State of Maine, constructed a walkway through the parking lot and connecting Main Street to Gateway Park; a pedestrian connecting ramp between the parking lot and St. Ignatius Street; infrastructure improvements like parking island removal, drainage, catch basins, and street lights. This project was just completed in 2022.

Sanford and MaineDOT Team-Up for a Downtown Planning Partnership Initiative (PPI) and a RAISE Grant Initiative:

The PPI application in 2020 highlighted that Sanford had already taken significant steps and was aligned with MaineDOT planning, including:   1) Safety improvements for vehicle traffic; 2) Improvements for a  walkable downtown; 3) Innovations in infrastructure with SanfordNet Fiber, stormwater design, and construction, Unitil gas expansion; 4) Matching Downtown Improvements: $1.1M in Brownfields Awards, $300K in Community Development Block Grant Awards, a $2M share of USDOT Grant Awarded to replace all traffic signals and rebuild a portion of Route 202/Cottage St.  

Because Sanford was willing to spend a significant amount of money on the revitalization, in  MaineDOT asked if the City would like to take part in a RAISE grant initiative that could mean significant money invested in Sanford.  Most of the money will come from the Federal Government, some from the State government, and a small portion from the local government.  Multiple departments at City Hall, together with MaineDOT submitted data, studies, and concepts to this project, along with multiple businesses, residents, and community organizations showing support.  This also gained the support of the Maine Congressional offices of Senator Collins, Senator King, and Representative Pingree.  On August 9th, 2022, Senator Susan Collins officially announced the funding of $25 Million under the RAISE grant to benefit the City of Sanford!

This, together with approximately $10M from State and local funding, will total approximately $35M for downtown Sanford.  You will begin to see small projects starting in the near future, with a concentration on road rebuilding by 2026.