Walks held this week through downtown Bridgton were aimed at teaching about the building’s history while offering ideas for the future.

Route 302 in the Lakes Region isn’t known for its architecture, but dozens of folks who trekked through downtown Bridgton this week heard plenty about the history of the area, and its gothic and Greek rival-inspired buildings and history of downtown.

But the walks, led by Alan Manoian, Bridgton’s economic and community development director, weren’t just meant to entertain. Manoian has been charged by the town council to guide development in downtown Bridgton in hopes of drawing young people and new employers to the town. Doing that means remaking downtown Bridgton into something special, and place that is less automobile-focused and more pedestrian friendly.

“Right now there are significant vacancies, issues in terms of street design, and no vibrant evening scene,” Manoian said. “My goal, the reason I was brought here to Bridgton, is to make Bridgton, and especially its downtown, as attractive and inviting to companies and young professionals as it can possibly be.”

Manoian has experience reshaping and remaking downtowns. Serving as the economic development director in Nashua, N.H., from 1994 to 2003, Manoian helped draw employers to the town.

Richard and Lorraine Kiley, summer residents in Bridgton and former Nashua residents, walked with Manoian on Monday. The Kileys said when Manoian started in Nashua there were many empty stores in the downtown, but by the time he left, “he had brought life into the town,” Lorraine Kiley said.

The Kileys took part in Manoian’s downtown walks in Nashua years ago and “almost fell over” when they heard of a similar walking series in Bridgton this week.

Another “tourist” was Carol Nugent, of Katona, N.Y. On Monday morning she signed paperwork to purchase a home on North High Street in Bridgton and was interested in the downtown walks as a chance to learn Bridgton’s history. After the walk, Nugent said, “I loved it. I learned a lot. I’m coming tomorrow night and I’m planning to come to every one of them.”

Nugent and the Kileys and several others followed Manoian from the tour’s starting point in front of the Big Kahuna Cafe? building in Pondicherry Square to the tour’s end an hour later at the Corn Shop Trading Company.

Throughout the tour, Manoian talked about the architecture and history of each building on Main Street. Some of the buildings had some distinctive design features, while others showed visible signs of decay.

The goal, Manoian said, is to use Community Development Block Grants to help building owners spruce up their building in a way that helps preserve and improve upon Bridgton’s unique character.

“We have CDBG funds set aside, and the goal is to put those funds to work in Pondicherry Square to restore facades, as well as focus on sidewalk restoration and pedestrian connectivity,” Manoian said.

Pedestrian connectivity involves creating better links between the town’s parking lots, which are located throughout the downtown tucked behind Main Street buildings.

It was also appropriate the walking series started at the Big Kahuna building since Manoian said the town is hoping to work with the building’s owner to recreate the fac?ade.

“Pondicherry Square and especially the Big Kahuna building is one of the five most important historical buildings in town, and probably the most important in terms of leaving a positive and memorable impression when rounding that corner and driving up Main Street,” Manoian said. “Pondicherry Square should be the pride of Bridgton, as it historically always was. But right now it is not the pride of Bridgton.”

Making an impression is the goal of downtown redevelopment, Manoian said. “If you want to know the vibrancy, the social cohesion, the cultural significance of a town, you take a ride down the town’s main street. The downtown should be our historical and cultural treasure house.”

All about autos

Bridgton, Manoian said, has too many curb cuts, narrow sidewalks, and it is “exceedingly deficient” in terms of focusing on the pedestrian and the whole walking experience. Everything is geared toward the automobile, he said.

He said downtown commercial development is designed to be seen at 25 mph, hence the one-floor buildings, wide streets, and “severe lack of any vertical development,” he said. He wants to remake Bridgton to be more pedestrian friendly, reverting to its original design as a town to be experienced by foot.

“Our target is to build a new ethic based on quality of place. It’s all about what makes Bridgton unique and different from any place in the world,” Manoian told the group of tourists on Monday. “Right now, it’s a place people drive through not even noticing what they’re driving by. We have to change that.”

Keys to changing the downtown, Manoian said, involve widening sidewalks in hopes of encouraging outdoor cafes, and supporting multi-leveled architecture that is geared toward the pedestrian who can take time to view several stories at a time. The immediate goal is to uncover facades of the existing buildings in town that have been wrapped in siding.

“It’s really a tragedy that some our beautiful old buildings are rotting from within,” Manoian said. “It’s a shame because all the elements are there, they are just covered up with vinyl or aluminum.”

Alan Manoian, Bridgton economic and community development director, led a series of walks in downtown Bridgton last week. The first stop on Monday was in front of the Big Kahuna Café on Main Street. Manoian, seen here pointing to an old photograph of the building, said the town is working with the owners of the building on façade improvements. (Staff photo by John Balentine)