Vote Your Main Street! Help HOB win $150,000 for the City Hall Clock Tower Restoration
HEART OF BIDDEFORD PARTICIPATING IN PARTNERS IN PRESERVATION: MAIN STREET CAMPAIGN REFLECTING AMERICAN DIVERSITY
Biddeford’s City Hall Clock Tower Can Win Preservation Funding with Support From the Local Community
As a participant of the 2018 Partners in Preservation campaign, Heart of Biddeford is encouraging the public to visit VoteYourMainStreet.org to secure funding to help preserve our City Hall Clock Tower. Biddeford’s City Hall was designed in 1895 by John Calvin Stevens, an acclaimed Maine architect who has designed more than 1000 buildings in the state. The clock tower is on Maine Preservation’s “Most Endangered Historic Places” list, and with these grant funds, we will return the clock to working order and rebuild the four faces of decorative work. Despite decades of economic hardship, the iconic clock tower remains the symbol of Biddeford’s strength and vibrancy.
American Express and The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in collaboration with Main Street America, head back to Main Street with their annual Partners in Preservation campaign, with a focus on sites that celebrate diversity and the fight for equality. Each of the 20 sites featured in the campaign played a role in the development of a diverse nation or the struggle for equal rights. Biddeford once had 26 flags hung over the employee entrance of the Pepperell Mill, representing workers from countries all over the world. Today, we are growing in diversity as we unite in our struggle to make a comeback. The theme, “It’s Our Time” reflects the diversity of people who are united today in rebuilding this city.
The public will decide which historic sites will receive a share of $2 million in preservation funding by voting for their favorite main streets through October 26 at VoteYourMainStreet.org, hosted by media partner National Geographic. Winners will be announced on October 29.
Heart of Biddeford is one of twenty diverse and historic Main Street districts across the country participating in the Partners in Preservation: Main Streets Open House Weekend. Heart of Biddeford will host an Open House, with events from 3-8:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 for the public. The schedule includes:
- 3-6 p.m. Residents and guests of Biddeford will be invited to tour the City Hall clock tower, enjoy open houses in downtown businesses, and learn about City Hall’s historic significance.
- 6 p.m. Gather outside City Hall for an artistic celebration of the clock tower.
- 7-8:30 p.m. “True Story Theater”: An Interactive Story Sharing Experience. True Story performs improvisational theater with heart. Audience members will be invited to share a story of their experience or of a close connection. Actors then honor these stories through drama, movement, music, and song. It’s fine if English is not your first language. Come to share… or just to watch and learn. All ages welcome. With True Story Theater, audiences laugh and cry, build respect and understanding, and gain insights about their lives. FMI: www.TrueStoryTheater.org
For more information about the campaign and to vote daily for Biddeford through October 26, visit VoteYourMainStreet.org/Biddeford.
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About Partners in Preservation
Partners in Preservation is a program in which American Express, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awards preservation grants to historic places across the country. Through this partnership, American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation seek to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of historic preservation in the United States and to preserve America’s historic and cultural places. The program also hopes to inspire long-term support from local citizens for the historic places at the heart of their communities.
About American Express
American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.
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About the National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America’s historic places: www.savingplaces.org.
About Main Street America
Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. www.mainstreet.org
About National Geographic Partners LLC
National Geographic Partners LLC, a joint venture between National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox, combines National Geographic television channels with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic Studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, catalog, licensing and e-commerce businesses. A portion of the proceeds from National Geographic Partners LLC will be used to fund science, exploration, conservation and education through significant ongoing contributions to the work of the National Geographic Society. For more information, visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ and find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
About Shop Small®
Shop Small® is a nationwide movement to support small, independent businesses and call attention to the valuable and distinct contributions they make to their communities and the economy. Shop Small celebrates small businesses ranging from retail stores and restaurants to fitness studios and salons, and everything in between. The Shop Small movement was spurred by the widespread participation in Small Business Saturday®, a day founded in 2010 by American Express. This national holiday shopping tradition is dedicated to celebrating small businesses and driving more customers through their doors on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. November 24, 2018 marks the ninth annual Small Business Saturday, proudly backed by American Express. Learn more and connect on ShopSmall.com, instagram.com/shopsmall, facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday.
If you need instructions on how to register your email and submit your vote, please review Instructions to Vote Your Main Street!