Downtown Bangor group unveils new events

BANGOR – An early evening street dance in May, an artisan’s market during the annual summer concert series in June and July, and downtown landscape enhancements are among the attractions coming soon as part of the Bangor Center Action Plan.

The action plan, unveiled Thursday during a meeting at City Hall, is the product of the “Downtown Bangor After Dark” meetings series.

Sally Bates, the city’s liaison for Bangor Center, presented the action plan.

Thursday’s meeting, which drew about 20 people, was the third and last meeting for the series, hosted by Bangor Center Corp., a nonprofit dedicated to the development of downtown Bangor. The group is funded by an extra tax assessment on downtown properties and has an all-volunteer staff and board.

Those who attended the series wrap-up session seemed to like what they heard, though few spoke during the question and comment period.

“I’m very excited by what you presented for this summer,” said City Councilor Peter D’Errico, who suggested that murals might also help brighten up downtown.

In other elements of the plan, Pickering Square Parking Garage will stay open late on nights when there are special events downtown; Bangor Center will maintain a list of downtown events on its Web site, which also will be used to formally recognize activities and projects that enhance the appearance of downtown.

Bangor Center also is teaming up with Keep Bangor Beautiful, the city’s Public Works crew and downtown businesses to install flower boxes throughout the downtown this summer. This project was made possible by an anonymous donor who contributed funds for the needed materials, and Ames A/E, a Bangor architectural and engineering firm that provided design services, Bates said.

Though plans for the street dance are still being firmed up, Bates said it will take place in the West Market Square-Broad Street area.

The artisan’s market will coincide with the city’s annual waterfront concert series, which this summer will be on Thursday nights from June 16 through July 21. The concerts begin at 7 p.m.

The market, which will open at 4 p.m. on concert nights, will be located on the banks of the Kenduskeag Stream and on the lower pedestrian bridge nearby.

“It’s not going to be a yard sale,” Bates said. The market, she said, will feature a combination of handmade crafts and other items, as well as street performers, mimes, jugglers and the like.

Food vendors, however, will be limited to downtown restaurants, pubs and other dining and drinking establishments.

The discussion among people with an interest in downtown – residents, business owners, building owners, customers and tenants – took place at the request of the City Council’s government operations committee.

Last fall, the council panel asked Bangor Center to help downtown “stakeholders” define what they believe downtown Bangor’s nighttime atmosphere should be.

Though the impetus for the councilors’ request was a complaint from an opponent of the city’s anti-cruising ordinance, virtually all of the feedback Bangor Center received called for keeping the ordinance as is, according to Bangor Center President Parke Clemons.

No members of the car club that prompted the talks attended Thursday’s meeting, though some did participate in the Jan. 6 meeting.

To reach out to car clubs, however, Bangor Center and city officials said they are open to organized “cruise-ins,” which require a city permit, and similar events for car enthusiasts, Bates said.