WESTBROOK – After years of talking about the economic impact felt during the city’s annual Halloween on Main Street event, the Westbrook/Gorham Community Chamber of Commerce says this will be the last year it will host the community event.

However, the group is taking up a campaign to find a community organization willing to take over the longstanding event.

Since the late 1990s, a portion of Main Street has been closed on the Friday afternoon prior to Halloween, allowing children and parents to walk the street, trick-or-treat at downtown businesses, and participate in other activities and games.

Andrew Cook, who has been president of the chamber for a little over a year, said Tuesday that the decision was not easy, and has been considered by the group for a number of years. However, he said, the event simply doesn’t fall in line with the chamber’s mission.

“Initially, the concept behind the event was to drive people to downtown Westbrook on a Friday,” he said. “However, over the years, as the economy has changed in downtown Westbrook, we’ve received a lot of feedback from downtown businesses that they lose money.”

The chamber made the decision during a vote on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

Cook added that the common concern from business owners is that while it is a great community event, people are not there to shop, and businesses often lose money while also buying a few hundred dollars worth of candy.

“Our stance is that it’s not a bad event, but it kind of goes against what our mission is as a chamber,” he said. “We really want to find another organization that will take it over.”

He said that over the last few years, including 2010, when the event didn’t take place due to construction on William Clarke Drive, the chamber has been looking for a group to take the reigns.

“We’ve looked in the past, and no one has stepped up to the plate, so we’re hoping that this will create a sense of urgency,” he said.

Chamber board member Jan Emerson, who voted for the chamber to end its longstanding run with the event, said Tuesday that she doesn’t see Halloween on Main Street as a business event.

“I see it more as a social event, so I feel that it should be administered by an organization that is adept with those types of events,” she said.

Emerson said she would like to see an event become more geared toward “the children of Westbrook,” which would also necessitate an alternate organization to take over the planning.

When asked if the chamber was concerned about how the community may respond, Cook said the organization debated the move for a few years, and is prepared to assist a fellow organization to take the helm.

“The event itself has changed a lot in the past 16 years, and what we would rather focus on is putting more time into Winter West or Together Days,” Cook said, referring to the chamber’s two largest events.

Halloween on Main Street is Friday, Oct. 24 from 4:30-6 p.m.

Kids in costume flood Main Street last year during Westbrook’s annual Halloween on Main Street event. The event on Friday, Oct. 24, could be the last in Westbrook if not picked up by another community organization.