BIDDEFORD — When she was a teenager, Carol Cole said she used to meet her boyfriends at the old Puritan Restaurant, which was located at the corner of Main and Alfred streets.

Before going off to college, she said, her mother took her shopping at Butler’s department store, one of the many clothing stores that used to line the city’s Main Street.

When he was a child, Gilman Seaves said, he used to spend lots of time in Biddeford’s downtown.

He and his friends would buy sodas at Doran’s Pharmacy or listen to records in the phonograph booth at Murphy’s Music Store.

“We used to live in that place,” said 66-year-old Seaves who now lives in Saco. “Those were some great, great times.

These stores and restaurants are just a few of the places that lined the city’s downtown landscape in years past.

Although many of the shops, movie theaters and bowling alleys that brought locals and out-of-towners to Biddeford’s downtown are long gone, they are not forgotten.

They, and the events which that took place there and inspired favorite memories are still in the hearts and minds of many former and current Biddeford residents.

To ensure that locations from the past that have meant so much to so many are not forgotten, as well as to commemorate sites that are special in the present day, the downtown revitalization organization Heart of Biddeford has undertaken a project entitled: “HeartSpots: Downtown’s Memory Lane.”

The Heart of Biddeford began the project at the La Kermesse Festival in June 2009, said Holli Andrews who is heading up the project for the non-profit organization.

At the festival Heart of Biddeford volunteers began recording memories and coming up with the first HeartSpots.

 As part of this project, locations that a number of people find special are marked with wooden placards, she said.

Soon the organization will add to its Web site the recorded musings of some who recall what made these spots so special to them.

At the Web site, people will be able to click on one of the HeartSpots that will be plotted on a map. They will be able to listen to, read stories  or watch a video about those locations.

Currently there are 56 spots, said Andrews, and more can be added.

Most of the HeartSpots are from the past.

The Puritan restaurant, mentioned by Cole, is a favorite spot.

Priscille Gagnon said that restaurant, located where the Happy Dragon restaurant now stands, was a favorite hang-out for teenagers.

Another HeartSpot is the site of the former Pastime Lanes.

Peter Danton said he used to bowl there for 10 cents per string.  While upstairs, in the roller -skating rink, he watched wrestling and boxing matches.

Priscille Rousselle said she used frequent Murphy’s Music Store and Simensky’s clothing store. She paid for her purchases with money she earned clerking at Fishman’s Department Store.

All those places are long gone.

However there are some places “that have survived the test of time,” said Andrews.

“Reilly’s Bakery is a great one for new and old stories,” she said.

Some other places still standing which are familiar to generations of Biddeford residents include the Palace Diner, McArthur Library, Pizza by Alex, Wonderbar Restaurant and City Theater.

This project listing tales of Biddeford’s past will be used to write a vision of Biddeford’s future.

The HeartSpots: Downtown’s Memory Lane project is funded by the Orton Foundation, in Middlebury, Vt.

In 2008, the foundation awarded a $100,000 Heart & Soul Community planning grant to the Heart of Biddeford.

The grant is to be used to create a master plan of the downtown.

Community input will be taken into account in creating that plan, said Andrews.

“It will be written through the voices of what we hear through the story telling phase,” she said.

The goal of the HeartSpots project, said Andrews, “is to inspire people to reminisce and think of what could be.”

Keep tuned to the Heart of Biddeford Web site: www.heartofbiddeford.org for the addition of a HeartSpots: Downtown’s Memory Lane Web Page which is coming soon.

For those wishing to contribute their own memories to the project, call 571-1617.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.