Calais officials gear up for 2004 gala Councilors discuss St. Croix Island anniversary, resort hotel proposal

CALAIS – St. Croix Island, a big anniversary bash and the resort-hotel-convention center the city would like to see developed are on many people’s minds in this border community.

As 2004 approaches, preparations are under way to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the French settlement of St. Croix Island, which predated both Virginia’s Jamestown settlement and the arrival of the pilgrims in Massachusetts.

Nearly 400 years ago, explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts and cartographer Samuel de Champlain along with more than 70 Frenchmen established a settlement on St. Croix Island. The island is located about 15 minutes south of the city off Route 1.

The harsh winter led to the death of nearly half of the men, and in the spring Sieur de Monts relocated the remaining adventurers to Port Royal in Nova Scotia.

The city hopes to break ground this spring on a nearly $6 million heritage center that will focus not only on the history of the island but also on the history of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. It also will feature the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge and the city’s connection with Passamaquoddy Bay.

The city also plans to hire an appraiser to evaluate the value of several buildings on Main Street located across from the proposed heritage center, including the former W.T. Grant building. Plans call for demolishing the buildings and replacing them with a green-space area and parking.

During their meeting Thursday night, city councilors discussed the 2004 celebration, which is expected to attract several hundred thousand people to the area. Residents of Calais and St. Stephen, New Brunswick, are working on a gigantic birthday bash.

The councilors said they considered the celebration a top priority. Councilor Ferguson Calder said he believed it would be helpful if the councilors could have copies of the minutes of the meetings of the 2004 Organizing Committee “in order for us to keep up with what is happening, what preparations are being made and what preparations we will have to make.”

At the Thursday night meeting, councilors also reviewed a plan to submit an application for a $10,000 Community Development Block Grant to study the feasibility of locating a resort-hotel-convention center in Calais.

Last year, Gov. Angus King, in what some have characterized as a disappointing speech because he did not touch on the location of the proposed third bridge in Calais, said he planned to spend his last year in office pursuing the development of a facility Down East. He did not identify the location of the proposed plan, but the governor has said that the resort-hotel-convention-center would not include casino gambling.

Calais officials are not waiting for the governor to do something. Borrowing a page from King, who has said local communities need to take the initiative in economic development, councilors Thursday night approved a proposal to apply for the state planning grant.

The planning grant would fund a feasibility study to investigate locating a resort-hotel-convention center in Calais. The city also plans to spend $10,000 of its own money to fund the study. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is expected to contribute $20,000 for its portion of the planning grant.

“The purpose is economic development. The national objective is to create jobs, at least 51 percent of which will benefit low- to moderate-income people,” said Calais resident Gail Wahl, who is writing the grant.