A historic partnership between the City of Waterville, Maine, and Colby College resulted in dramatic revitalization of the city’s Main Street in just seven years, stimulating economic development and restoring Waterville’s role as a cultural and economic hub for the Mid-Maine region.
Learn about Waterville’s initial challenges, which resembled those facing small-city downtowns around the country — loss of manufacturing jobs, competition from suburban retail, and impacts of urban renewal — as its strengths: historic architecture, vibrant institutions, arts and community organizations, and riverfront green space.
Redevelopment was grounded in a strong planning framework and built on robust stakeholder and community engagement using co-creation techniques to build trust, consensus, and optimism over the multi-year planning and implementation process.
Colby’s investments in catalytic redevelopments were complemented by city support for infrastructure funding and business incentives. This cooperation attracted new businesses, enhanced local amenities, and created a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly environment. The arts, essential to economic development, added a vibrant source of programming and placemaking.
Overall, the partnership both rejuvenated downtown Waterville and created a model for collaboration between institutions and municipalities, demonstrating how strategic investments drive economic growth and urban transformation.
Learning Objectives:
Identify potential institutional partners and successful strategies for enduring public-private engagement that can help drive revitalization of post-industrial small downtowns.
Craft active participation methods and tools that support an inclusive public process and effective community engagement for residents, small businesses, and stakeholders.
Leverage integrated planning to bring together arts and culture, business and tourism, housing, historic preservation, and transportation funding as catalysts for economic development.
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