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City of Brunswick
A whole lot of constructive projects are underway at Brunswick Main Street [BMS], as BMS Manager Carmen Hilton and City of Brunswick Economic Development Coordinator Julie Martorana forge ahead with big plans.
“We have so many irons in the fire,” Hilton said about the nonprofit organization whose mission is to revitalize downtown Brunswick while protecting its historic architecture and green spaces and strengthening its businesses. BMS is part of Main Street America, a National Trust for Historic Preservation program.
Hilton and Martorana work together to improve Brunswick’s economic and revitalization efforts. While Hilton focuses on the downtown district’s old and vacant buildings, most of Martorana’s work involves grants for the city.
Both attribute a big part of their success to Mayor Nathan Brown. “He’s an area native, knows everyone, and enlists the right people,” Martorana said. “He’s the perfect blend, balancing progressive ideas with historic perspectives.”
BMS faces a myriad of challenges. “Many aspects of economic revitalization and historic preservation often don’t come together, so we struggle to achieve a balance,” Hilton said. The pandemic made “the whole landscape” even more complex because “we couldn’t hold events for income.”
With federal money more readily available, “we want to make the most of it,” Martorana said. “We have to get water and wastewater to the new developments, and to attract new employers to move here.”
BMS received $300,000 to administer a program that will make its historic buildings more “lease-able,” Hilton noted. “Owners can apply for
grants to help get their historic buildings up to code – in terms of health, safety, viability and livability.” They secured $75,000 in state funding that can be used for façade items like new windows, HVAC, or a roof, or interior improvements. A key BMS goal is to help make users of the area’s outdoor recreation – such as C&O Canal hikers and bikers – aware of the downtown businesses. Recent grants funded an architect to create renderings of what Brunswick’s Kaplon building could look like; an engineer to work on connecting downtown with the area’s natural resources; and the installation of parking lot lighting and a pedestrian crossing. As a participant in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Recreation Economy for Rural Communities [RERC] program, experts work with the Brunswick community to determine strategies and develop an action plan. “All this translates to economic development gains,” Hilton said. “It’s a cornerstone that ties all our efforts together, making sure we haven’t left out anything that will attract new residents and keep our current ones.” To give visitors a reason to stay downtown, BMS added free concerts to the farmers’ markets held on the second and last Fridays of each month, May through September. They also initiated a program in which people purchase gift cards that can be used at participating downtown businesses. In the first 15 months of the program, $70,000 worth of gift cards were sold and about $45,000 have been redeemed at local businesses. “Now, that’s economic development!” Hilton said.
