As a major, two-year construction project kicks off in downtown Westbrook, businesses are positioning themselves for the future.

During the past month along Main Street near Bridge Street, businesses have closed or moved, a building has been put on the market and new tenants have been lined up. This movement is coinciding with the start of the Bridge Street bridge construction and realignment, which will alter the downtown landscape.

In the commercial building to be most affected by the construction, the Edwards Block, located on the corner of Main and Bridge streets, new tenants have been announced, highlighted by award-winning maker of chocolate truffles, Black Dinah Chocolatiers.

Saco Bay Physical Therapy is also moving in, from just across the street at Westbrook Commons, and accountant Tabitha Swanson has already moved in.

According to Black Dinah Chocolatiers owners Steve and Kate Shaffer, the company, based on Isle au Haut in Down East Maine, is moving into the Edwards Block sometime between March and May.

Steve Shaffer said last week that the process of finalizing the move is 90 percent complete. The Shaffers intend to use the space mostly for production and distribution of their products, but will also have a small space for retail.

Shaffer said the pair has looked to expand their business into southern Maine to help distribution of their candy, which has grown in popularity since 2007. Isle au Haut is a somewhat remote fishing community, part of Acadia National Park. The Shaffers also operate a cafe? in Blue Hill, and the owners plan to keep both the Isle au Haut and Blue Hill locations open.

“Anything from the island takes three times the amount of time and resources to complete,” he said last week. “We really wanted to make things easier.”

Last Thursday, the Shaffers had just returned from the 2015 Good Food Awards in San Francisco, where one of their chocolate truffles, called Cassis de Re?sistance, was awarded gold.

The Edwards Block building, owned by Joyce Talbot of T&T Development, has also been home to Portland Pie Co. for eight years. Black Dinah will occupy the former Red Thread space, which features views of the river and park.

“We really like Westbrook, and the location is beautiful,” he said. “We’re excited to get down, and get set up.”

Shaffer said the business will be hiring additional employees, and that the Shaffers will be looking to move to Westbrook.

Joe O’Neil, Portland Pie Co.’s chief operating officer, said last week that he’s looking forward to the new businesses next door. O’Neil says the building has dealt with the normal “ebb and flow” of some businesses coming and going, but that new tenants are always a good sign.

“It seems like a great opportunity for the downtown to have new businesses coming into the city and filling up vacant commercial space,” he said.

Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, said last week that he sees the recent movement as a good sign for the downtown.

“I think we continue to see a healthy influx of new businesses and some internal relocations, but all signs are pointing to a healthy interest in Westbrook and our downtown even with the construction looming,” he said. “This is a very good sign.”

Another such move in the immediate area is that of 1 Westbrook Common, off Main Street. Owner James Para is looking to sell the building, which has 13,000 square feet on the first floor and another 13,000 in a high-ceilinged basement. With Saco Bay Physical Therapy relocating across the street, 6,000 square feet will open up.

The building still features tenants ITN America and Spectrum Solutions. Para is listing the building at $1.3 million.

“The owner is now trying to market his building and we continue to work with him, brokers and business people to put a deal together there, too,” Baker said. “All in all, strong signs for a healthy downtown.”

However, not all recent announcements have been positive. Last month, the Saccarappa Art Collective closed, leaving a hole in Westbrook’s downtown art presence. Former director Andy Curran also decided to close his gift shop located next door to the gallery, Aterra, which sold cards and other handmade gifts.

Curran has criticized downtown Westbrook for its lack of foot traffic, a problem that the bridge construction and coinciding pedestrian work could remedy, if successful.

While the former gallery space has been vacant for about a month, Main Street ice cream shop Catbird Creamery announced last week that it will be moving in, keeping the business in downtown Westbrook.

Catbird announced its need to move last month when the owners also launched a crowdfunding campaign online.

Co-owner Corey DiGirolamo said she’s excited for the move, which gives the small business room to expand. The space is twice the size of the shop’s former unit at 846 Main St., she said. However, the space requires work, and DiGirolamo and her husband, Andrew Warren, will be renovating the space during the next month. She said they’d like to open in time for Valentine’s Day.

“I think this will present us with a lot more visibility,” she said of their new location. “It’ll be nice to be on the sort-of restaurant block.”

Across the river in the One Riverfront Plaza building, a major void will be left when large Westbrook employer Disability RMS vacates the building at the end of 2015.

However, on the horizon is a new development that will feature riverwalk amenities and more commercial space downtown. Developer Rob Mitchell says his vision is for the building to specifically coincide with the changes taking shape in Westbrook, which include the new bridge and eventual removal at Saccarappa Falls.

Over the past few months, construction is visible along the riverwalk off Ash Street, where the three-story building is being erected. Mitchell, an avid kayaker, has visions of kayak rentals and other outdoor activities based from the building. To him, downtown Westbrook’s future hinges on the success of investments like these.

“The reality of it is, in five years, it’s going to be dramatically different,” he said.

The Edwards Block building, a multi-suite commercial building on the corner of Main and Bridge streets, is a central piece of recent business movement downtown. The building is also in the middle of a two-year bridge construction zone. Staff photo by Andrew Rice